The 58-year-old has offered no indication that he is looking for a return to the dugout, particularly in a hot-seat that is as warm as the one on Madrid’s bench. He shrugged off links to the Blancos when reacting to the news of Alonso’s sudden departure.
Working as a pundit on Servus TV On shortly after that bombshell broke, Klopp said when asked if his phone had been ringing: “It actually has - though not from Madrid. But yes, there were definitely a few people who felt they had to contact me directly about it.
“First of all, I think it’s another sign that something isn’t quite right there at the moment. If Xabi Alonso, who over the last two years in Leverkusen has shown what an outstanding coaching talent he is - and I think at his age and with the number of jobs he’s had, you can say that - is then forced to leave Madrid just six months later, it shows a few things. On the one hand, it shows that nowadays there’s no time anymore. On the other, the expectations at Real Madrid are obviously enormous.
“To make a decision like that in the heat of the moment, after losing a cup final to Barcelona yesterday, says a lot. I think we’d already been hearing rumours for a while. And now - I don’t know if that’s where your question was going - but this has absolutely nothing to do with me, and it didn’t trigger anything for me either, which would probably have been the follow-up question.
“I was surprised, that’s true - genuinely surprised. Then a few people messaged me, and I replied with various emojis.”
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