Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has signed a new contract, set to keep him at the club until 2026.
Klopp’s previous deal with Liverpool was set to expire in 2024, and the German tactician frequently spoke about the possibility of taking a break from management after that. However, it seems things have changed since then and it may well be that the excitement of the season in which his team may yet win every trophy on offer has brought fresh energy to face more challenges with the club.
The 54-year-old reportedly remains on the same wage as before, while his support staff, who have also penned new deals, get a raise.
Having arrived as a replacement for Brendan Rodgers in October 2015, Klopp has completely changed the atmosphere in and around the club. From dangerously drifting towards the middle of the Premier League table, Liverpool are now one of the best teams in the world.
It took time, as Klopp said it would upon arrival, but the Reds first won the Champions League in 2019, along with the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup the same year, and followed that up with the long-awaited Premier League title in 2020, whole 30 years after their last league title.
This season, Liverpool could still go on to win the 20th crown in English football and equal the record held currently by Manchester United. They’ve already won the Carabao Cup and booked a place in the FA Cup final, and on Wednesday evening, they took a big step towards the final of the Champions League with a 2-0 triumph over Villarreal in the first leg of the semis.
Klopp’s importance to the successes of the team can hardly be exaggerated, and his potential stay at Anfield for the foreseeable future would surely spell bad news for Liverpool’s rivals.
“There are so many words I could use to describe how I am feeling about this news,” Klopp told the club’s official website. “Delighted, humbled, blessed, privileged and excited would be a start.
“There is just so much to love about this place. I knew that before I came here, I got to know it even better after I arrived and now I know it more than ever before.
“Like any healthy relationship, it always has to be a two-way street; you have to be right for each other. The feeling we were absolutely right for each other is what brought me here in the first place and it’s why I’ve extended previously.
“This one is different because of the length of time we have been together. I had to ask myself the question: Is it right for Liverpool that I stay longer?
“Along with my two assistant managers, Pep Lijnders and Pete Krawietz, we came to the conclusion it was a ‘Yes!’
“There is a freshness about us as a club still and this energizes me. For as long as I have been here, our owners have been unbelievably committed and energetic about this club and it is clear that right now this applies to our future as much as I’ve ever known.”
