Former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp has said he would throw a party on the island of Mallorca should the Premier League strip Manchester City of their titles due to breaches of financial regulations.
Klopp’s Liverpool finished second to Pep Guardiola and his all-conquering City team twice, first in 2018-19 and again in 2021-22.
The Premier League referred City to an independent commission in February 2023 over 115 alleged contraventions of financial rules dating from 2009 to 2018. The club have always denied any wrongdoing.
At his first public appearance as Red Bull’s head of global soccer, Klopp was asked about how he would react should the commission find City guilty and remove the league titles from their honours list.
“We had this discussion when I left,” Klopp said. “I haven’t spent a lot of time in Mallorca because I am always flying around the place. But if it would happen, I told all the people who wanted to [come]: ‘Just book a flight to Mallorca. I will buy the beer!’ We’d have our own parade in my garden.”
The German coach added that he had not followed the details of the hearing, which began in September last year, and that he did not know when a verdict was due.
Klopp was also questioned on the ongoing contract sagas around three of Liverpool’s key players during his tenure.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk are all out of contract at the end of the season, with Klopp’s replacement Arne Slot frequently asked about the trio’s futures at his news conferences.
“I’m so happy I’m not in charge with that situation and having to answer those questions every week,” Klopp joked.
“I’d love all three of them to extend their contracts. They don’t tell me what is going on. When Virgil is 41 to 44, I’m sure he’d love to play for New York … I’d welcome him with open arms.”
Klopp told the news conference that he hoped Salah would stay at the club, naming him as Liverpool’s greatest striker of the modern era, as well as going on a tirade about this summer’s FIFA Club World Cup.
“I think it’s useless. It doesn’t help if you have no summer break,” he said.
“Who wins the tournament is the poorest winner of all time because he has to play the whole summer through and then the league starts again. We have now a lot of injuries in European football.
“We have to reduce the amount of games. That means in some leagues it would be better [if] you have 18 instead of 20. That means in other competitions, you don’t add games.”
Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.
