Jürgen Klopp has raised the prospect of staying at Liverpool beyond 2024 by admitting his energy levels will determine how long he remains in the job.
The Liverpool manager was caught out by a question on his future before Wednesday's FA Cup win over Norwich and said he did not know whether to extend a contract that has just over two years remaining. On Friday the 54-year-old reiterated it was still his intention to stay until 2024 – when he will have been in charge for almost nine years, the longest stint of his managerial career – and said a decision on whether to extend his deal could be taken at the "last minute".
Klopp, asked what would persuade him to stay or walk away in two years’ time, replied: “If I have the energy levels for it. That is important. I love what I do, but I’ve said a couple of times there must be something else out there in the world, to be honest, apart from always thinking about properly skilled, good-looking, fantastically nice football players.
“But I really don’t think about it. At the moment I am full of energy but we have to – I have to – make sure that is the case because I don’t want to sit around and be more tired than others and think: ‘Wow, why is everyone bothered about the things out there because I couldn’t care less’?”
Liverpool remain in the hunt for an unprecedented quadruple, and Klopp maintains the long-term health of the club – with young players coming through and several redevelopment plans delivered – is more important than his personal plan.
“My future will be okay,” he said. “I don’t have to plan. I could book [extend his contract] last minute – let’s put it like this. It is not a problem. No, the plan is the future of the club that we are constantly working on, that everything is in place and the things we do are not for me, not for us, not for this generation, they are for a long, long time.
“So many things we’ve tried to improve over the years. It’s about just doing the right things, employing the right people, putting them in the right positions. It doesn’t mean you win the title, it just means you have the right people for the right job, so use them – and that’s what we try. These people – a lot of them are here at the moment – will be good and it will be fine whenever it will be after I leave. The plan at the moment is to do 2024, thank you very much.”
