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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has reportedly agreed a new deal which would keep him with the Premier League title contenders until 2026.
The former Borussia Dortmund boss was already tied to the club until 2024. However, according to The Athletic, the German and his “closest staff” have agreed to extend their stays at Anfield.
The news comes less than 24 hours after Klopp led his team to a first-leg victory over Villarreal in the semi-finals of the Champions League. Liverpool have already won one trophy this season and are still in contention to win an historic quadruple.
According to the Athletic’s report, Mike Gordon, the president of Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group, was present at Anfield as a Pervis Estupinan own goal and a Sadio Mane effort put the Reds in control against Villarreal. Gordon was reportedly there to help get the manager’s new deal wrapped up.
Klopp’s agent Marc Kosicke was also present for the 2-0 victory. Klopp first took over at Liverpool in 2015, so the extension would see him bring up more than a decade at a club where he has won the Premier League and Champions League among other trophies.
Liverpool beat Chelsea on penalties to win the Carabao Cup, and will meet the Blues again in the FA Cup final after overcoming Manchester City in the semis. They are also a point behind City in the Premier League with just a handful of games remaining, and could end up facing Pep Guardiola’s side in the Champions League final with City holding a first-leg advantage over Real Madrid.
As recently as March, Klopp had indicated his plans to leave Anfield in 2024 had not changed. “Nothing has changed and if I decide to [leave] in 2024 it’ll be nothing to do with the quality of the squad,” he told the media at the time,
“All we do is for the long term. This club must be even better when I am not here anymore. That’s the plan.”
In 2019, when he put pen to paper on a deal running until 2024, the German said: “We love it here. First and foremost, it’s a wonderful club, we really feel at home, and understand most of the people and I thought it’s a good moment to continue this thing.”
Shortly after agreeing that deal, he led Liverpool to their first league title in the Premier League era, finishing the season with 99 points. The previous season, his team had won the Champions League for the first time since 2005 after beating fellow Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur in the final.