It was the early Christmas present every Liverpool fan wanted.
When the club’s official Twitter account teased an “announcement” at around 11.20am on Friday, many assumed the news would relate to a new signing. Perhaps a transfer for Takumi Minamino, the Salzburg star, had been finalised?
The reality? It was even better.
Jurgen Klopp’s new contract, which will keep him at Anfield until 2024, is only the latest piece in the Liverpool jigsaw, but it may be the most important one of all.
“A statement of intent,” said a delighted Klopp. “One of the big moments of our stewardship,” added Fenway Sports Group, the club’s owners.
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Momentum may have failed miserably at the UK General Election, but it is building rapidly on the red half of Merseyside. Liverpool, it seems, are ready to conquer the world.
“There can be no better place than this,” Klopp said, with some justification. On and off the field, the club continue to move forward at a rate of knots.
The team, guided expertly by Klopp and his staff, sit eight points clear at the top of the Premier League, perfectly placed to end a three-decade wait for a league title.
Their defence of the Champions League moved forward with victory in Salzburg in midweek, they remain in both domestic cup competitions, while next week they can become Club World Champions for the first time in their history.
Heady days indeed.
Away from the pitch, their new £50 million ($67m) training complex is on course to be completed in time for next season, while ambitious plans to take Anfield’s capacity beyond 60,000 should move forward in the New Year.
“Building from a position of strength,” was the phrase FSG used in their statement announcing Klopp’s new deal on Friday. The aim, they said, was for the club to remain “elite in all facets of the industry.”
It is hard to quantify the impact Klopp has had since his arrival on Merseyside in October 2015.
Never mind the results and the performances, which have improved year upon year, he has transformed the mood, the feel, the mindset of the club. From doubters to believers, and on to achievers.
“We consider him to be the best there is,” said FSG. “If Liverpool Football Club were looking to appoint the most outstanding, elite manager for our current status today, Jurgen would be the first choice – no question.”
Few would disagree. Compare and contrast Liverpool’s situation to that of their peers. How many of Europe’s top clubs would switch places right now? All of them, one suspects.
“This club is in such a good place, I couldn’t contemplate leaving,” Klopp said. He spent seven years as Mainz boss and seven years at Dortmund.
By the time this latest contract finishes, he’ll have been at Liverpool close to nine, and will surely have confirmed his place – if he hasn’t already - among the all-time Anfield greats.
Bill Shankly, perhaps the greatest of all, once spoke of “a bastion of invincibility” at Anfield, and with Klopp at the helm, backed by FSG and with Michael Edwards, the venerated sporting director, pulling the strings behind the scenes, there is genuine belief that a new, glittering era has arrived.
“The plan is to make it the best time of our lives,” Klopp said at his press conference on Friday. “We have to enjoy the ride.”
His words, as ever, will be music to Liverpool fans’ ears.
Enjoy the ride? They’ve been doing that since the day he walked through the door, and they’ll be doing it for a few years more now.
Merry Christmas indeed!
