'I will never, ever manage a different club in England' - What ex-Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said about return to management after shock links with Real Madrid as Carlo Ancelotti fights for his job

Recent reports have pointed towards Jurgen Klopp's shock return to football management, with Real Madrid desperate to sign the ex-Liverpool boss — currently Global Head of Football at Red Bull — to replace the under-fire Carlo Ancelotti. Klopp's words when he announced his departure from Liverpool last year could further fuel the speculation regarding a potential managerial role at Santiago Bernabeu next season.

While announcing that the 2023-24 season would be his final one at Anfield last January, Klopp left the door open to a return to management, but promised that he would never manage another club in England, leading to speculation that the German manager could be tempted to join Los Blancos.

"I will not manage a club or a country at least for a year, that’s not possible, I cannot do that and I don’t want to. That’s all. What I know definitely – I will never, ever manage a different club in England than Liverpool, 100 per cent. That’s not possible."

Many believe that Ancelotti could be enjoying his final few months as Real Madrid manager. His future has come under risk after a string of poor results; the Merengues have conceded nine goals over two defeats against Barcelona, while they also succumbed to a 3-0 defeat in the quarter-final first leg of the Champions League against Arsenal last week.

Amidst all the uncertainty regarding Ancelotti's future, Real Madrid have been constantly linked with Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso, who is heavily tipped to take over from Ancelotti either this summer or the next one.

Madrid will host Arsenal in the second leg of the Champions League last-8 at the Bernabeu on Wednesday, during which they would be hoping to surge and insurmountable comeback. The reigning champions have never been eliminated before reaching the semi-finals in any of Ancelotti's previous five seasons in charge.