Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and his two assistants Peter Kraweitz and Pepijn Lijnders have signed new contracts at the club that run through the summer of 2024, the Premier League leaders announced on Friday.
The news comes just as the Premier League named Klopp manager of the month for extending Liverpool’s lead atop the table to eight points above second-placed Leicester City, with defending champions Manchester City 14 points back in third. They are on a 33-match unbeaten streak across in league play, dating back to a 2-1 defeat to Man City on January 3 that ultimately cost them last season’s title.
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“We decided to continue what worked so far, not too bad,” Klopp said in a video released by the club upon announcement of the extension. “It will be good news for some, not so good for others. We love it here. It’s a wonderful club. We really feel at home. I thought it’s a good moment to continue at the club. It was not a difficult negotiation.”
Happy Friday, Reds! 🤩🤩🤩 pic.twitter.com/7qUWOsszb6
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 13, 2019
Klopp signed on with Liverpool in October of 2015, joining just months after completing a successful stint in charge of Borussia Dortmund that turned sour towards the end. Since taking charge of the Reds, the German has led a slow but prosperous rebuild of the club culminating in last season’s Champions League crown. Now they search for the club’s first-ever Premier League title and first top flight league victory since 1990.
“We are absolutely delighted we have been able to reach an agreement with Jurgen -- as well as Peter and Pep -- on extending their time with the club,” Liverpool said in the official club release. “As we are sure our supporters would agree, it is truly wonderful news and we are all extremely thrilled, not only professionally, but personally too. We feel this represents one of the big moments of our stewardship of Liverpool Football Club so far as we believe there is no better manager than Jurgen. The decision also keeps with the club’s overall strategy of building from a position of strength.”
There were rumblings this summer, including an ESPN report, that Klopp could potentially depart the club at the expiration of his old contract in 2022 and take a year off. Now that is put to bed as Klopp himself continued to gush about the success of the club not only on the field but behind closed doors as well.
“For me personally this is a statement of intent,” said the German in the official release, “one which is built on my knowledge of what we as a partnership have achieved so far and what is still there for us to achieve. When I see the development of the club and the collaborative work that continues to take place, I feel my contribution can only grow.
“People see what happens on the pitch as a measure of our progress and although it is the best measure, it’s not the only measure. I have seen the commitment from ownership through to every aspect and function of the club you can think of. When the call came in autumn 2015, I felt we were perfect for each other; if anything, now I feel I underestimated that. It is only with a total belief that the collaboration remains totally complementary on both sides that I am able to make this commitment to 2024.”
Klopp said he “couldn’t contemplate leaving” and said of the club, “for anyone in football who aspires to compete in an environment where every element of the organization is at its very best – from the support of the supporters to the vision of the owners – there can be no better place than this.”