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Jurgen Klopp ‘doesn’t expect’ coaching return amid Real Madrid links as ex-Liverpool boss claims ‘I never considered myself world-class’


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Jurgen Klopp insists he does not plan on a return to management having been linked with the vacancy at Real Madrid, after the former Liverpool manager claimed that he never considered himself a “world-class coach.”
The German stepped down as Reds boss at the end of 2023/24, ending a glittering nine-year spell where he led the club to Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League titles.

That followed successful spells in Germany with Mainz, whom he guided to the Bundesliga for the first time, and Borussia Dortmund, where he won two league titles and reached the Champions League final.

However, looking back on his coaching career, the 58-year-old insists he still has plenty of self-doubt despite his success.

“I never considered myself a world-class coach because I still had so many questions when I finished,” Klopp told reporters in Leipzig.

“I was like, ‘How can I be world-class with these questions still?'”

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He added: “I never watch the goals back because I want to understand the game to the left and the right of the result.

“I want to understand why it happened… Results are the result of the performance. So we worked on the performance and the results came later.”

On leaving Anfield, Klopp took on a new role as Red Bull’s global head of football, working across several clubs owned by the Austrian conglomerate, such as Bundesliga side RB Leipzig, MLS outfit New York Red Bulls and Austria’s Red Bull Salzburg.

But he has been repeatedly linked with a move back into coaching and was recently among the names being touted as the long-term successor to sacked Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso.

One report last week said Klopp had given “serious consideration” to the prospect of taking over in the Spanish capital, but he brushed aside suggestions that a return to the dugout is imminent.

“I don’t expect to change my mind, but I don’t know,” Klopp said.

“We’re building a house right now and my missus wanted to have a really big trophy room.

“There was another small room and I said, ‘This is enough because we know how many trophies we have, we will not add any.’

“It might sound arrogant but I know I can coach a football team. But I don’t need to do it until my last day.”

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RB Leipzig sporting director Marcel Schaefer explained the presence that Klopp has brought to the operation at Red Bull.

“He has something that is unique. He has a god-given talent which everyone knows from his coaching jobs,” Schaefer told AFP. “He can catch people in five to 10 minutes.”

Klopp was involved in the decision to sack his friend Marco Rose from the Leipzig job in 2025 and he said being the “grave-digger of coaches” was a “title I never wanted to win.”

But he has also played a role in player recruitment, Schaefer explained, by “talking to families and players about our vision, our project…you know if Jurgen Klopp is in the room.”

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