Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp is expected to take a break from management after leaving Anfield. Ex-Reds star Sadio Mané has made a cheeky suggestion about a new role.
As Liverpool embarked on its maiden Premier League title success, Sadio Mané was in no doubt about who was responsible. The Senegalese ace, who a year earlier had won the Champions League, was in great goalscoring form alongside Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino in a devastating Liverpool attack.
Mané though suggested it was Jürgen Klopp who was to thank for Liverpool’s surge to the top of the Premier League. Speaking to the club’s official monthly magazine in November 2019, he said: “Everybody can see what he has done for this club, for this city and the quality he has as a manager. There are a lot of good managers but I would say he is the best in the world.”
Klopp and Mané would end that season with a Premier League winner’s medal and more silverware followed before the forward left for Bayern Munich in 2022.
He is now with Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia but will turn 32 next month and is already preparing for life after football. In October, Mané completed his purchase of French fourth division side Bourges Foot 18. He is aiming for the top, hoping his side can climb through the leagues.
And he hasn’t ruled out trying to lure his former boss back into management when he leaves Liverpool. Speaking to French media (via Foot Mercato), Mané said: “He is a great man, a living legend, who brought a lot to Liverpool. Maybe he will come here! He is someone who left his mark on world football and personally, he contributed a lot to my development.”
It is unlikely that Mané’s tongue-in-cheek proposal will force Klopp into a rethink about his future plans. The Reds boss insists he will take at least a year away from management after leaving Merseyside, although retirement has not been completely ruled out.
He has been linked with the German national job, should this summer’s European Championships not go to plan. Julian Nagelsmann is out of contract in after the tournament and SportBILD reported last month that Klopp remains a ‘dream’ replacement for the German FA.
Klopp will be keeping a close eye on the home nation’s performances though as he attends the tournament as a fan. TV broadcasters BBC and ITV were both keen on snapping him up but the Daily Mail claims those approaches are likely to be unsuccessful.
Mané holds his former boss in high regard after he helped turn him from a decent Premier League player into a world star. He is unlikely to get Klopp to take over the fourth-tier French side but he could well turn to the German for some advice. That said, whoever does manage to appoint Klopp in the future is getting one of the greatest ever.
