Jurgen Klopp is unsure about the prospect of never leaving Liverpool but feels the length of his new four-and-a-half-year contract feels like forever in football anyway.
Liverpool confirmed on Friday that Klopp has committed to a new contract – a two-year extension to his previous deal – that will keep him at Anfield until 2024.
It comes as a just reward for the Reds remarkable 2019-20 to date, with Liverpool eight points clear at the Premier League summit having only failed to win one – a 1-1 draw with Manchester United – of their 16 games this term.
If Klopp manages to see out his new contract, he will have been at the club for almost nine years, having joined in 2015.
And while the German was unwilling to commit to never leaving the club, he acknowledged the significant length of the new deal.
Forever? I m not sure, but I think four-and-a-half years from now sounds like forever in football, Klopp told reporters in his pre-match news conference ahead of facing Watford.
It would be nine years, the longest spell I ve been at a club. I m just looking forward to it. One reason for this extension is so we don t speak about it anymore, because that s very important.
Extension, contract extension
— Liverpool FC (@LFC)
I understand the questions, but for the next three-and-a-half years, no one has to talk about it. We will see what happens.
The plan is to make it the best time of our life, which hasn t been too bad until now, but we don t have a feeling that it can t be even better, so let s make the best time of our lives of it, enjoy the ride.
I never thought about leaving before 2022, but you get constantly confronted with it and you think, Okay, it could end , and then I wouldn t see people I have real relationships with.
The club was asking for a while if we could talk about extending and, at this moment, I thought it makes sense before things maybe get intense.
Not now obviously, it was calm as it should be, but maybe in the summer [end of the season] we would ve started again, talking about things like that, and new players coming in are asking how long the manager is going to be here. We all wanted to avoid that.
Klopp s assistants Peter Krawietz and Pepijn Lijnders also renewed their deals and he stressed their importance to the Reds development.
I ve worked with Peter 18, 19 years, I think, and still all good, he said. And Pep, it s four years I think.
He [Lijnders] gets better and better and better over the years. We really improved a lot and bringing Pep in in a different role refreshed the system.
I think he s an outstanding coach, plenty of ideas, so it was clear for me that I wanted to have the consolation. I had to ask them first, they were happy.
It s the same thing, we enjoy the working together, the boys wanted to be part of the project and they want to do it together. I m really happy, they re incredibly important.
