Absolutely nobody expected what Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool announced on Friday morning – and if you did, you’re a psychic.
The 56-year-old German has confirmed he will be stepping down as manager of the Anfield club at the end of the 2023/24 season in what is earth-shattering news for Reds fans.
This January transfer window has been desperately slow and ponderous so how else to spark life into the month than announcing the departure of one of the Premier League’s greatest-ever managers?
Klopp revolutionised Liverpool into the force they deserve to be and brought incredible success back to the Merseyside giants. He won their first-ever Premier League title in 2019/20 while also delivering the Champions League trophy back to Liverpool in 2018/19.
Klopp has a further four major honours in his Liverpool trophy cabinet but he’ll be passing the baton to someone else in the summer. The Reds will be searching for their first new manager since 2015.
So who could be the next Liverpool manager? Here, HITC Football take a look at five potential candidates for one of the biggest and most pressurised job positions in world football.
Xabi Alonso
Xabi Alonso has been installed as the immediate favourite to succeed Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool and has been even before the German’s stunning announcement.
The Spaniard is already adored by Liverpool fans after his five-year spell at Anfield between 2004-2009. Alonso won the Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, FA Cup and Community Shield as a Reds midfielder and would look to achieve similar success if handed the reigns in Merseyside.
As reported in December, Alonso has been tracked by Liverpool as a potential next manager candidate and it fans would feel it would be deserved given the unbelievable job he is doing at Bayer Leverkusen this season.
Leverkusen are top of the Bundesliga and remain unbeaten in the league with February just around the corner. They are four points clear of Bayern Munich and Alonso going on to win the club’s first-ever German top-flight title would be proof he could cut it at Liverpool with a much bigger budget and infrastructure at his disposal.
Roberto De Zerbi
Roberto De Zerbi has caught plenty of admiring eyes given the job he has done at Premier League outfit Brighton & Hove Albion since arriving in September 2022.
The Italian joined from Shakhtar Donetsk and his free-flowing and adventurous style of football has propelled the Seagulls into a force to be reckoned with.
He led the club to European qualification last season for the first time ever after finishing an impressive seventh in the division and there is absolutely no reason why De Zerbi can’t take the step up to a more prestigious outfit in Liverpool.
HITC Football can in fact reveal that he and Xabi Alonso have already been pinpointed by Liverpool as two potential Klopp successors, which really does make a whole lot of sense.
The 44-year-old – who Robbie Fowler believes has been picked out by Klopp himself to succeed him at Anfield – is one of the most tactically adept managers in England and with a win percentage of 47% at Brighton, Liverpool would be daft not to consider him at the very least.
Julian Nagelsmann
Julian Nagelsmann has to come across as an attractive next manager option for Liverpool – but there is one big stumbling block that could see him out of the picture quickly.
That’s because Nagelsmann is the German national team’s head coach and will lead his country into Euro 2024 as the host nation. For Liverpool, that would be a problem in giving their new manager the best time and preparation possible for the 2024/25 campaign.
Still only 36 years old, Nagelsmann is a talented operator and won the Bundesliga and DFL Supercup twice as Bayern Munich manager. His sacking came as a real shock in March last year given he garnered an incredible 71.4% win ratio as the Allianz Arena boss.
There’s no doubting Nagelsmann’s credentials but a move to bring him to Anfield could prove more difficult than anyone else on this list. However, nothing can be ruled out.
Ange Postecoglou
We learned not too long after Ange Postecoglou made his switch from Celtic to Tottenham Hotspur that the Aussie-Greek was a fan of Liverpool in his youth.
So if Postecoglou were to be picked as Jurgen Klopp’s successor, there would be no doubting his passion for the role. His ability cannot be questioned either and while he has only been a Premier League manager for a matter of months, the former Hoops boss has proven he belongs at this level.
Postecoglou is adored by the Spurs fanbase – much like he was at Celtic – and they are hoping success in the form of trophies can be won under his tenure.
Postecoglou has Tottenham right in the mix for Champions League qualification next year and perhaps even the Premier League title given the club are just eight points behind Klopp’s league-leading Liverpool.
His style of play isn’t too dissimilar to Klopp’s and he knows how to win trophies – just look at what he did up in Scotland. Could Liverpool approach Tottenham in the summer and would that prove too appetising for Postecoglou?
Steven Gerrard
Steven Gerrard is a Liverpool legend and knows exactly what it takes to represent the club he adores. He was previously mooted as Klopp’s natural Anfield successor ever since his playing retirement.
And while it would be natural to link him to the vacant Liverpool job in the summer, it just doesn’t seem as viable as it once was.
After success with Rangers in Scotland, Gerrard made his inevitable move to the Premier League with Aston Villa. His spell there ended very poorly and he was axed after a year in the Villa Park hotseat.
Since then, he took the well-travelled footballing route from the western hemisphere to Saudi Arabia as manager of Al-Ettifaq in the summer.
In addition, HITC Football sources confirmed in January that Gerrard would sign a new deal with the Pro League outfit and that turned out to be the case.
For all the talk of Gerrard becoming Liverpool’s manager one day, while it still may happen yet, it’s not going to be in the summer. But he’ll still be labelled as an outside contender.
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