Given that a German publication is sending an SOS to Jurgen Klopp over the euro, it should come as a relief to Liverpool that he has already turned it down.
For the German national team, it was a 12-month nightmare.
After eight wins and a draw in their first nine matches under Hansi Flick, they have won only once in their six UEFA Nations League group matches.
At the World Cup, they only beat Costa Rica by losing to Japan, and a draw with Spain saw them knocked out of the group stage.
They have won once in their last five games since then, with Germany currently winless in four, losing to Belgium in March. A 3-3 draw with Ukraine was followed by further defeats by Poland and Colombia this month.
Flick then came under enormous pressure and in an editorial for BILD, journalist Matthias Brugelmann called for an “immediate” replacement of the manager.
His suggestion—or at least the “premium option” to do so—is Klopp.
“The DFB must fight with all its might for him,” wrote Brugelmann. “Klopp would lead Germany into euphoria from now on.”
But while Klopp could be the dream candidate to lead Germany to Euros next summer, there is no chance of him leaving Liverpool at this stage.
On several occasions, in fact, the 56-year-old has rejected the proposals of the national team.
Speaking in 2021 ahead of Flick’s appointment, Klopp insisted he would be “unavailable” at the time or for the foreseeable future. “I have three years left at LFC, don’t I?” he explained.
“It’s easy. You sign a contract and you stick to this contract. I have respected the contracts of Mainz and Dortmund.”
Since then, Klopp has continued to extend his contract and the manager has committed to Liverpool until at least 2026, when he signed his contract in April last year.
Two months ago, amid his team’s poor form, he pledged ‘fully for the future’ and described him as the ‘elephant in the room’ he hadn’t been sacked.
There may be a desire to manage Germany in the future, but there’s no way Klopp will leave Liverpool as long as he’s welcomed back to Anfield. So while Germany may need Klopp to pull them out of the quagmire before Euro 2024, they’ll have to wait until at least two years after that.
