Home Liverpool Liverpool ‘accelerate talks’ to extend Klopp contract beyond 2024 after ‘positive noises’
Date published: Thursday 28th April 2022 10:13 – Will Ford
Liverpool are reportedly looking to ‘accelerate talks’ with Jurgen Klopp over a new contract to keep him at Anfield beyond 2024.
President of Fenway Sports Group (FSG), Mike Gordon, flew to Liverpool on Wednesday for the Reds’ Champions league semi-final clash with Villarreal.
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Jurgen Klopp’s side ran out 2-0 winners on the night but Gordon had an ulterior motive for his visit, according to The Times.
His priority was to sit down with Klopp to discuss an extension to his current Liverpool deal.
FSG were encouraged by ‘positive noises’ from Klopp, who has been ‘re-energised’ this term having felt drained by the events of last season, which saw Liverpool’s title defence undermined by injuries to key players such as Virgil van Dijk, while the slog of touring empty grounds due to the Covid-19 pandemic took its toll.
With Liverpool still on course to complete an unprecedented quadruple this season, FSG are understandably keen to tie Klopp – whom they have always seen as the perfect manager for the club – down to a new deal.
The report claims ‘the strong bond Klopp has forged with Liverpool from an ownership, player and supporter perspective underpins his contentment’.
But adds ‘a final decision from Klopp on his future will also be heavily influenced by whether the assistant managers Pepijn Lijnders and Peter Krawietz are also on board, given the strength of his relationship with them’.
Meanwhile, Klopp said after his side’s 2-0 victory over Villarreal that they “had a lot of good moments”, but warned that it’s only half-time in the semi-final.
“It was a brilliant game. The first half I liked a lot – we didn’t score, that was the only problem that we had,” Klopp claimed.
“But we kept them quiet, which was important because of the counter-attacking threat.
“We tried to create, tried to be direct, mix it up, play through the lines. We had a lot of good moments, no goals, true, but I was really fine with the first half.
“And then in the second half, obviously we finished the situations off. Both goals were outstanding. We wanted to score a third, but from a specific moment on it makes then sense that you control the game, and that is what we did.
“It’s half-time, nothing else, but it’s better than before the game.”