Jurgen Klopp is the ‘dream’ target for Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad as their new manager, talkSPORT understands.
The German has been out of managerial work since departing Liverpool in the summer of 2024.
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During his tenure at Anfield, Liverpool were crowned Premier League champions for the first time and narrowly missed out on others to Manchester City.
They won the Champions League as well as every other trophy available, including the Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup.
The former Broussia Dortmund boss is currently the Global Head of Soccer for Red Bull.
But Al-Ittihad would love to convince him to get back into management.
talkSPORT’s Ben Jacobs reports that the club have genuine interest in trying to appoint Klopp.
They are on the lookout for a new manager after Francisco Conceição left.
However, deal-makers at the club feel it would be near impossible to recruit Klopp.
Adding to the difficulty of the deal is Al-Ittihad’s financial position, with backing from the Saudi Ministry of Finance the only solution to help fund a deal for Klopp.
Club insiders have told talkSPORT that Klopp remains a dream target, but downplayed any suggestion of advanced talks.
The German’s agent, Marc Kosicke, has also released a short statement.
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He said: “There is NO possibility for Klopp to manage Al-Ittihad this year”.
Will Klopp return to management?
Following Klopp’s departure from Liverpool, he has been linked with a number of vacant posts across Europe’s elite teams.
Earlier this year, following Xabi Alonso being sacked by Real Madrid, Klopp was rumoured to be in contention to replace the Spaniard at the Bernabeu.
Ultimately a deal never eventuated and Jose Mourinho is now poised to return for a second spell after a brief spell in Portugal with Benfica.
But when asked about managing Real, Klopp made it clear that he isn’t done with management just yet.
He said: “If Real Madrid had phoned, we would have heard about it by now.
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“But that’s all nonsense. They haven’t called even once, not once. My agent is there, you can ask him. They haven’t called him either.
“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 will happen in the coming years? But there’s nothing planned.”
One certainty
However, any Premier League fans hoping that Klopp will one day rock up need to prepare for disappointment.
That’s because after nine years with Liverpool and numerous trophies, he vowed never to manage team in England.
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“What I know definitely is that I will never, ever manage a different club in England than Liverpool, 100 per cent. That’s not possible,” Klopp said.
But a return to Anfield certainly isn’t off the cards.
Speaking in October 2025, Klopp said: “I said I will never coach a different team in England so that means, if [I did return], then it’s Liverpool.
“So, yeah, theoretically it is possible.
“I don’t even know exactly. I love what I do now. I don’t miss coaching. I don’t. I do coach but it’s just different, it’s not players.
“I don’t miss it. I don’t miss standing in the rain for two-and-a-half or three hours. I also don’t miss going to press conferences three times a week.
“Having 10 or 12 interviews a week, I don’t miss that. I don’t. I don’t miss being in the dressing room. I coached around 1,080 games so I was in the dressing room very, very often.
“I don’t want to die in the dressing room. It’s these kind of things. I’m 58. From your perspective that might be old, but from other perspectives, it’s not that old.
“That means I could make a decision in a few years. I don’t know. Do I have to make a decision today? I will not coach again, but thank God I do not have to do that, I can just see what the future brings.”
