Jurgen Klopp’s last spell away from management didn’t last too long, with the 58-year-old German coach joining Liverpool after only a few months of unemployment after leaving Dortmund. After retiring from the Reds in 2024, his second break proved to be far more significant.
Meanwhile, he held an executive role at Red Bull Group as global director of football for the energy drinks empire, a role that was far less involving and intense than that of a manager – although most outsiders were at least still speculating that he would eventually return to the professional role for which he is best known.
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In this regard, the usual discussion has focused on the expectation that Klopp will take charge of the German national team sooner or later, but in recent months, a steady stream of rumors coming out of Spain have first linked him as a potential next Real Madrid coach and now link him with Atletico Madrid.
“It’s a good thing we’re talking about it,” Klopp said this week when asked about the rumors in Madrid, and his attitude to the speculative media in Spain and elsewhere ranged between denial and condemnation. “When is news news? When does someone write something – only when there is something true?
“I don’t know if it’s artificial intelligence or someone writing something behind it, but it pisses me off. Real Madrid didn’t call me once. My agent is there, you can ask him. Now I’m supposed to be coaching Atletico Madrid too, maybe at the same time. They really need to question this.”
Longer term, though, Klopp admits he’s not completely out of coaching yet and still sees himself returning to coaching at some point. However, since he has previously stated that he cannot learn another language and would be embarrassed to take a league job in Germany or England, he does not have many options.
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Klopp has made it clear that he will not take up a Premier League role again after taking charge of Liverpool, and his history with Dortmund seems to specifically rule out a move to Bayern Munich. So if he’s not going to learn Spanish and the chatter in Madrid (of any style) is nonsense, that really only leaves the national team.
“I’ve said it a thousand times, I’m not thinking about it now,” he added. “Thankfully, there’s no reason to do that. But for the future, I’m not quite done coaching yet, so who knows what will happen in the next few years. But there are absolutely no immediate plans in that regard.”
