Former Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund Jurgen Klopp has again denied talk that he is set to take over at Real Madrid, or this time, Atletico Madrid in the summer. Klopp has been cast as one of the few options that would convince Real Madrid President Florentino Perez to take over the hotseat at the Bernabeu next season.
This is not the first time that Klopp has done so, previously denying talks with Real Madrid twice since Xabi Alonso was sacked. For the time being, Los Blancos have been sounding out alternatives to Alvaro Arbeloa for the summer, while it has also been rumoured that he is a candidate to be Diego Simeone’s replacement.
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Klopp: ‘It annoys me, it’s all nonsense’
After Alonso’s exit, Klopp and Zinedine Zidane were thought to be the only two options that Real Madrid were convinced by. Yet there are doubts whether Klopp would come out of retirement. At an event in Munich, he denied there had been any contact with Real Madrid.
“Or is it enough for some media outlet – I don’t know if it’s AI or if there are people behind it – to write any old garbage? It bothers me. And then I have to be constantly responding,” Diario AS quote.
“But you really need to be a little more disciplined about this. If Real Madrid had called, we would have known about it eventually. But all this is nonsense. They haven’t called even once, not once. My agent is there, you can ask him. They haven’t called him either. Imagine how long this has been going on… And I’m supposed to be coaching Atletico Madrid too, maybe at the same time. You really need to question this a bit.”
‘You have to to call first before I can say anything’
Consistent reporting from Germany has described Real Madrid as one of the two jobs he may consider coming out of retirement for, alongside the German national team.
“Right now I’m not thinking about that, luckily there’s no reason to. For my age, I’m quite advanced in life, but as a coach I’m not completely finished. I haven’t reached retirement age. Who knows what the next few years will bring? But there’s nothing planned. Sorry, Madrid. You have to call first before I can say anything.”
Although it was been very public that Real Madrid were sounding out options for the summer in the last few weeks, Arbeloa does appear to be winning round the dressing room. Five straight wins have calmed the waters at the Santiago Bernabeu, and it now seems possible that Perez is not looking for a replacement.
