Jurgen Klopp has rubbished reports linking him with a sensational return to management at Real Madrid.
The German has been away from football since he called time on his nine-year stint with Liverpool in 2024. He has served as Red Bull’s Head of Global Soccer since last January.
Klopp, who won the Premier League and Champions League during his Anfield spell, has been perennially, if tenuously, linked with a return to management, whether with the German national team or as a replacement for Arne Slot should Liverpool’s executives look to chop and change.
He has most recently been linked to take the top job at the Bernabeu, though, with the team struggling for form under Alvaro Arbeloa, who inherited the post from Xabi Alonso in January.
Speaking at a Magenta TV conference, Klopp emphatically quashed the rumours.
“It’s good that we’re talking about this,” he said.
“When is a story a story? When someone takes a sheet of paper and writes something on it? Or when there’s actually something to it?
“Did Real call me or Pérez and ask: Jürgen, do you fancy it? Or is it enough if some AI writes any rubbish? It’s annoying.
“If Real had called me, you would have heard about it. But they haven’t called.”
He added: “And what next - am I also taking over Atlético at the same time? Sorry, Madrid. They have to call me first before I can say anything.”
Klopp has also been tipped as a potential successor to Germany boss Julian Nagelsmann, but confirmed that he has ‘no plans’ to unseat his countryman, who spent two years in charge of Bayern Munich.
“I’m not thinking about that at all at the moment,” said Klopp.
“Who knows what the next few years will bring, but there are absolutely no plans in that regard.”
