Klopp set for longest spell at club after extending Liverpool deal to 2024
SHOWS:
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND, UK (DECEMBER 13, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)
1. (SOUNDBITE) (English) LIVERPOOL MANAGER, JUERGEN KLOPP, SAYING:
"Yeah, the club was asking for a while already if we could talk about an extension and at this specific moment I thought it made sense (to do) before things get a bit intense, I don't know. Not now, obviously, it was completely calm and that's exactly how it should be. But maybe in the summer we would have started talking about things like that again and new players, when you want to bring them in and they ask them 'how long is the manager here?' and stuff like that and we all wanted to avoid that, so it's now done. I'm really happy about that."
2. WHITE FLASH
3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) LIVERPOOL MANAGER, JUERGEN KLOPP, SAYING:
"I think four-and-a-half years from now sounds like forever in football. It would then be nine years. It would be the longest spell I've ever been at a club. I'm just looking forward to it. One reason for this contract extension was so we don't (have to) speak about it anymore, because that's very important. Today, of course, I understand the questions, but for the next three-and-a-half years at least, I would say, nobody has to talk about it. We will see what happens. The plan is to make it the best time of our lives. It was not too bad until now, but we don't have the feeling that it couldn't be even better, so let's try to make it really the best time of our lives and enjoy the ride. Enjoy the journey."
STORY: Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp has agreed a contract extension until 2024, the Premier League club announced on Friday (December 13).
Former Borussia Dortmund manager Klopp took the reins at Liverpool in October 2015 and guided them to back-to-back Champions League finals in 2018 and 2019, winning their sixth European cup last season.
At a news conference on Friday, the German said the extension would take him to a total of nine years at Liverpool, making it his "longest spell (he's) ever been at a club,". He spent seven years each at former clubs Mainz 05 and Dortmund.
Klopp took Liverpool to the brink of their first ever Premier League title last season, finishing a point behind champions Manchester City.
They are well poised to end their 30-year wait for a top flight league title after going unbeaten in the first 16 games this season, with an eight-point lead over second-placed Leicester City.
Klopp's assistants Peter Krawietz and Pep Lijnders have also agreed new deals.
