Sources: City not looking at Klopp
ESPN FC’s Gab Marcotti discusses where Jurgen Klopp may end up after the Borussia Dortmund manager announced his plans to leave the club.
Borussia Dortmund head coach Jurgen Klopp explains why he will leave the club at the end of the season.
ESPN FC’s Stewart Robson believes Jurgen Klopp’s announcement about leaving Borussia Dortmund came at a strange time and predicts where he will go next.
Jurgen Klopp would not be a candidate to manage Manchester City if the Premier League champions were to sack Manuel Pellegrini, sources have told ESPN FC.
Klopp was immediately installed as the bookmakers’ favourite to take over at the Etihad Stadium when he announced on Wednesday that he will leave Borussia Dortmund at the end of the season.
Former Mainz boss Klopp won the Bundesliga twice and DFB-Pokal once with Dortmund and reached the Champions League final in 2013 but, despite his track record, City do not view him as an ideal appointment.
Pellegrini is under mounting pressure after City lost six of their last eight games, slipping to fourth in the Premier League and exiting the Champions League.
The Chilean still has a further year left on his contract and City have given him their backing, but results could put his position in greater peril.
Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola is reported to be City’s preferred candidate to take over at the Etihad Stadium, but the Catalan has made it clear he is staying at the Allianz Arena next season.
Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti, Napoli’s Rafa Benitez and City’s under-21 coach Patrick Vieira have all been tipped as potential successors to Pellegrini but Diego Simeone — who recently extended his contract at Atletico Madrid — is not thought to be of interest.
Klopp, who speaks fluent English, has also been linked with Arsenal, but Arsene Wenger, who signed a new contract until 2017 last year, was in no mood to discuss that speculation at his own news conference on Thursday.
“I am not an agency to place managers,” the Arsenal boss said. “I find that circus a bit ridiculous, honestly.”
Sources close to Klopp told ESPN FC’s Raphael Honigstein that the coach has held no negotiations with any club and that he remains open-minded about his next role, although he will only consider teams in the Champions League.
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