Jurgen Klopp 'would love' England job as ex-Liverpool boss tipped to move into international management

Klopp’s near-nine-year reign at Liverpool reshaped the club’s modern identity. He transformed the Reds into serial challengers at the highest level, culminating in the 2020 Premier League title that ended a 30-year wait for domestic supremacy. By the time he walked away at the conclusion of the 2023–24 season, Klopp had delivered every major honour available and restored Liverpool’s place among Europe’s elite. Despite having a contract that still had two years to run, Klopp chose to leave on his own terms. The decision was driven not by results, but by exhaustion. The German spoke candidly in his farewell address, admitting that the demands of the role had finally caught up with him. Since leaving Liverpool, Klopp has taken on a senior strategic position with the Red Bull group as their global head of soccer, overseeing a network of clubs rather than living match to match.

Riise believes Klopp's next move, if there is one, would almost certainly be with a national team. England, in his view, stand out as a particularly attractive possibility.

Speaking in an interview with Casinostugan, he said: "If he does come back, I think he'll come back as a national team manager somewhere. I don't think he's going to be a manager for a club. I think he would love the England job at one stage. But I see him as a national team manager because that's not as intense as being a club manager."

While acknowledging that Klopp’s legacy at Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool is already secure, Riise suggested that the relentless grind of club football may no longer appeal.

"Jurgen Klopp loves life, he loves what he's doing, he has passion for whatever he's doing," he added. "I would love to see him back, obviously, because of the energy and who he is, but at the same time, his legacy now is high. He's done so well for Dortmund and for Liverpool, and I can't see that he can do even better at another club. So he might just be happy that 'I'm there now and I did what I did' and do other things. But anyway, I do think his job at Liverpool cost him a lot, he was mentally and physically drained because he put everything he had into that job, basically all his energy."

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For now, Klopp appears in no rush to test Riise's theory. Despite being linked with European giants such as Real Madrid, he has repeatedly signalled that he is content with his current lifestyle. His current role has offered distance from the relentless intensity of weekly competition, but the manager has not entirely closed the door on coaching.

He told The Diary of a CEO podcast: "I said I will never coach another team, a different team, in England. So that means if then it's Liverpool, yeah, theoretically it's possible."

However, unlike many of his peers, Klopp does not see management as something primary for his existence. Instead, he has spoken openly about how the job consumed his personal life, eroding the balance he now values deeply. In an interview with German outlet Welt, Klopp reflected on the tunnel vision that defined his career.

"I was in a tunnel, but never with myself," he said. "Now I pay more attention to myself. As silly as it sounds, I stopped doing what I always wanted to do. But it took me too far away from normal life – and ultimately, I no longer had a normal life. Whatever normal life is: my car knew three ways – to the stadium, to the training ground, and home. Frustratingly, while I had many visitors in Liverpool, I hardly had time for them. In the last four months, I’ve been to two weddings – before that, none in 23 years.

"But I don’t want that [management] anymore. I have a job now that fulfills me and is also intense. I don’t sleep in the morning and I don’t go to bed later at night, but I can organise my work much better. My wife, for example, is really happy with it because we can plan things much better that we couldn't before."

Klopp’s name will always surface whenever a major job becomes available, particularly one as prestigious as England manager - with Thomas Tuchel currently under contract in that position until the end of the 2026 World Cup. His charisma, tactical acumen and ability to connect with players make him an alluring candidate in theory. Yet his own words suggest that any return to the touchline would require extraordinary circumstances. For now, Klopp seems at peace, shaping football from a distance rather than living on its edge.