Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has dismissed claims of a return to management following reports that the German was in line for the Real Madrid hotseat.
The iconic Reds boss has been repeatedly linked with a sensational Anfield return amid speculation over Arne Slot's future. However, Klopp hasn't completely shut the door regarding a managerial comeback despite dismissing links with Los Blancos.
The German's successor, Slot, has come under fire after the Reds' failed Premier League title defence. The Dutchman is facing pressure to turn around Liverpool's fortunes after their defeat to Brighton, which saw them succumb to their 10th loss of the season, five points off the top four.
They can still qualify for next season's elite European competition by winning their seventh crown instead of finishing in the top five, but they have to overcome the holders Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-final.
Since leaving Liverpool in 2024, the 58-year-old has remained in football but with Red Bull as their Head of Global Soccer.
In his role, Klopp has been tasked with overseeing the operations side and helping their clubs around the world but despite moving upstairs, he has been the subject of continuous speculation.
He finally addressed the ongoing reports on Monday as he took part in the announcement of Magenta TV's World Cup team. He said: "If Real Madrid had phoned, we would have heard about it by now.
"But that's all nonsense. They haven't called even once, not once. My agent is there, you can ask him. They haven't called him either.
"Right now I'm not thinking about that, luckily there's no reason to.
"For my age I'm quite advanced in life, but as a coach I'm not completely finished. I haven't reached retirement age.
"Who knows what will happen in the coming years? But there's nothing planned."
With the comments from Klopp, it leaves that prospect of a return very open. Slot faced excruciating comparisons to his predecessor in his debut season and after the Premier League title success, it felt like the beginning of the end of the 'Jurgen Klopp hangover'.
However as the struggles begun, the pressure has increased ten-fold. The comments from Klopp will not have any impact on Slot but it could only feed into the noise surrounding his current position that has seen Steven Gerrard and the German face repeated calls to come in as firefighters to drive Liverpool to Champions League qualification.
The worry around Liverpool and Slot at present is the lack of evidence that they can get themselves out of the mire. With every ounce of positivity comes a strong sense of reality with the some of the current crop of Reds players, seemingly, not up for the fight.
As well as Los Blancos, Klopp has been mooted as a replacement for Diego Simeone at Atletico Madrid. The Argentinian has 18 months remaining on his contract but the reports claimed that he was in advanced talks with the Spanish giants.
It followed on from reports that he could leave his role at Red Bulls after just over 12 months. The German media outlet Salzburger Nachrichten claimed that the energy drink multi-club ownership wouldn't stand in his way if he wanted to leave the club and Oliver Glasner, who will leave Crystal Palace at the end of the season, named as a possible successor.
An interview with the former Liverpool manager was released a day after the Reds' defeat to Manchester United in October, where he left the door open to potentially returning to Merseyside in the future.
Klopp said: "I said I will never coach a team in England again, that means if it's Liverpool, theoretically it's possible.
"I don't miss standing in the rain, two-and-a-half [to] three hours, I don't miss going to press conferences three times a week, having 12 interviews a week, I don't miss that, I don't.
"I don't miss being in the dressing room, I coached something like 1,080 games so I was in a dressing room often. I don't want to die in a dressing room because it's nice, it smells.
"There might be something, I'm 58, I could make the decision in a few years... I don't know.
"Do I have to make the decision today that I will not coach again but thank god I don't have to, I can just see what the future brings.
"Now I'm in a project I really love, I like doing what I'm doing right now. In my mind, only if I'm focused 100 percent, I can do it really good."
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