Jurgen Klopp has been suggested for an unexpected comeback in football management, a prospect that would be unwelcome among Liverpool supporters.
Klopp is revered at Anfield due to his bond with Liverpool fans from 2015 to 2024, during which he secured both the Premier League title and the Champions League trophy for the club.
The ex-Borussia Dortmund manager assumed a global football strategy position with Red Bull in January, overseeing the energy drink company’s multi-club ownership model and possible future involvement with Leeds United and Rangers.
But with reports indicating that Klopp could abandon his wiiings to get back to management rather earlier than expected, speculation about where that might happen is rife.
Klopp’s relationship with Liverpool is such that most options would be difficult for fans to swallow but one of the leading candidates would taste especially bitter.
According to another former Premier League manager, Klopp would give Red Bull the elbow to tackle the challenge of replacing Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid.
Liverpool fans have reacted furiously to confirmation that right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold has ended his association with his boyhood club after two decades as a Red and his imminent move to Real Madrid means a Bernabeu appointment for Klopp would be even more unpopular on Merseyside than it would be in normal circumstances.
Allardyce told the Footy Accumulators No Tippy Tappy Football podcast:
“It’s a shame Trent won’t have Carlo Ancelotti, because Carlo is up there with Pep Guardiola.
He is the ultimate man manager. But I think Klopp would leave any job he’s got now to go to Real Madrid.”
Allardyce suggested that Alexander-Arnold’s decision to join Real Madrid could be a factor in Klopp potentially following suit and reckons the England defender made the right call on his future.
“I think he’s done the right thing,” said the former stalwart of England’s top division.”
What a career he’s had, that pressure. I’ve had Ivan Campo and Fernando Hierro tell me about what happens at Real Madrid, as a player, never mind as a manager.”
It’s relentless, there’s no hiding place once they decide to go.
It’s a great move for him.
He’s served Liverpool exceptionally well and deserves the opportunity.”
Allardyce was also clear that he believes Jamie Carragher, the former Liverpool defender and Sky Sports pundit who has been outspoken about Alexander-Arnold’s departure, would have done the same thing.