(Reuters) – Former Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said he plans to retreat into a private life following his departure from the Premier League club and has no immediate plans to return to management.
Klopp bade farewell to the Anfield faithful in a long address after Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday and led the crowd in a song for incoming manager Arne Slot, who has enormous shoes to fill.
Klopp, who famously introduced himself as “the normal one” in his first Liverpool press conference, was glad he is leaving the club in a good position after enjoying a trophy laden career.
“But look, it’s not burning behind me and that gives me a good feeling,” Klopp told reporters on Sunday in his last post-match press conference, adding that he will return to Anfield some day as a spectator.
The German will be packing his bags after a few emotional weeks in the city. In January, the 56-year-old announced he will leave at the end of the season after nine years at the helm due to draining energy levels.
“A private life must be planned and I didn’t plan anything yet because I was here,” Klopp said. “Probably Ulla (Sandrock, his wife) will update me where we go but I follow happily.”
“I don’t know exactly why nobody believes I probably will not be a manager again but I understand because obviously it seems to be a drug, because everybody comes back and everyone works until they are 70-something.
“Other people can do it in different ways, I have to be all-in, I have to be the spark, I have to be the energy, I have to be all these kind of things and I’m empty.
“You only have to look outside which clubs are obviously available. There will be opportunities, but I don’t sit here and think, ‘Maybe in a year’s time I take that.'”
(Reporting by Shifa Jahan in Bengaluru; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
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