In news that everyone on the Blue Planet has known for days and you’ve probably already read about a handful of times, Liverpool have confirmed the appointment of former Borussia Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp as successor to Brendan Rodgers after the Northern Irishman was relieved of his duties on Sunday.
This, of course, comes as no surprise following an intense week filled with speculation, rumour and reported trips to an Audi dealership — it was more a matter of when than anything else. After putting pen to paper on a three-year deal that will make him the third highest paid manager in the Premier League, Klopp sat down with the official website for an exclusive interview which will be broadcast at 8:00am GMT.
The appointment of the 48-year old isn’t the only change at Anfield with the club also announcing that Sean O’Driscoll, who served as Rodgers assistant manager, Chris Davies, head of opposition analysis and Glen Driscoll, head of performance, will be leaving the club. Former Liverpool midfielder Gary McAllister, who served as first team coach, will also be leaving his current post, but will be given an ambassadorial position with the club. It appears that Pepijn Lijnders, who took up a spot with the first team after impressing with the youth ranks, is the only one of the Northern Irishman’s staff to be retained with Klopp’s coaching staff from Dortmund set to follow him to Merseyside.
Zeljko Buvac will serve as assistant manager while analyst Peter Krawietz will also be a part of the back-room set-up. Rumours have been swirling that the German will also look to appoint a former Liverpool player to his staff with the name of compatriot Dietmar Hamann being floated and ex-Reds striker Robbie Fowler making his availability and willingness to link up known.
More on this when official announcements are made…
