DOHA, Qatar — Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has told ESPN he will use his new four-and-a-half year contract to make the changes that will enable his successor to inherit the club in the “best possible position.”
Klopp, who succeeded Brendan Rodgers at Anfield in Oct 2015, last week signed a new deal which commits him to Liverpool until the end of the 2023-24 season.
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If the German remains in charge for the duration of his contract, it will extend his time at Anfield to almost nine years — two years longer than his stay at previous club, Borussia Dortmund.
But despite Liverpool being on course for a first league title since 1990, less than a year after winning the Champions League, Klopp has told ESPN that the next four-and-a-half years will see changes and a rebuild take place at Anfield.
“We will see what we can achieve together in that time, but there will probably be a moment where we have to change things,” Klopp said.
“Improve always, but to change things as well and I really thought it makes sense that I do that instead of another manager coming in and having to do this kind of not really thankful job and like rebuild or whatever and then say ‘oh but Klopp would have done different’ stuff like this.
“This club became so important to me in a really short time. It’s unbelievable, so I feel absolute responsible for probably too much, but nearly everything.
“That’s what we try to show with that [contract] extension. We are ready to win whatever we can, but to make sure because there is always a time after me, after another manager, that the club in the best possible position to carry on in the best possible way.
“At this moment, everyone in the club believes that we need the consolation of the relationship we have with each other, but that it really works out in the future as well. That’s important.”
Liverpool confirmed the £7.25m signing of FC Salzburg forward Takumi Minamino on Thursday, with the Japan international expected to make his debut in next month’s FA Cup third round clash with Everton.
And Klopp admits that Minamino is the first step in his plans to rebuild his squad.
“It’s not reshaping, but Taki is for sure a player who can help us immediately in the short term and the long term, from an age perspective,” Klopp added.
“He’s already really good. Everyone could see when we played Salzburg. But still [there is] potential there to become even better.
“It’s not a competition, it’s just to have different options in different moments and the door is wide open that Taki can come in the team.”
