Jurgen Klopp wanted Man City job as Pep Guardiola's assistant! Pep Lijnders opens up on hilarious conversation with ex-Liverpool boss over summer switch to Etihad Stadium

Lijnders first joined Liverpool in 2014 as a developmental coach when Brendan Rodgers was manager. He then became a prominent member of Klopp's first-team staff after the German was appointed in 2015. The Dutchman became the manager at NEC Nijmegen in the Netherlands' second tier midway through the 2017-18 season, but was sacked at the end of the campaign and subsequently returned to Liverpool later that summer, becoming Klopp's assistant until the legendary manager's departure in 2024.

After leaving Liverpool, Lijnders was unveiled as Red Bull Salzburg's manager ahead of the 2024-25 season, though he was sacked in December of that year due to poor form in the Austrian Bundesliga.

In the summer of 2025, Lijnders was offered the assistant manager's job at City, opening up the possibility of working with Guardiola in addition to his previous experience with Klopp. However, City's modern rivalry with Liverpool made Lijnders hesitate over taking the gig and so he sought advice from his former boss at Anfield.

When asked by reporters if it was a difficult decision, Lijnders replied: "Do you want my political answer? No, of course not. The moment Pep called, and the feeling he gave me about what he wanted to do with the team by bringing me in, the trust he already had before we discussed how it would look - that made the decision much easier.

"But you cannot put away 10 years of Liverpool that easily. But I'm really proud to come to a club of this magnitude, so successful over the last 10 years and with a manager that defined football. When I spoke with Jurgen he was so clear: 'If you don't do it, I will take the assistant job!'

"When I go to Anfield [next week] it will be special, maybe more special for my family than me. But my mindset is to win and to try to beat them."

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Klopp claimed he decided to step away from the Liverpool job in 2024 as he was 'running out of energy'. After leaving Anfield, he took up the job as Red Bull's head of global soccer and hasn't returned to the dugout, while he has even suggested he will never manage again.

Despite this, Klopp has been linked with the Real Madrid job following the sacking of Xabi Alonso midway through January. Alvaro Arbeloa has been handed the reins for the time being but Los Blancos are expected to make another change in the dugout ahead of the 2026-27 season, with Klopp's name continually mentioned in the Spanish press.

In the meantime, Klopp will return to Liverpool as an assistant to Sir Kenny Dalglish in a legends' charity game against another of his former clubs, Borussia Dortmund, in March.

Back in Manchester, Lijnders and Guardiola have been preparing City for Sunday's trip to bogey-team Spurs. Though City have won on their last two Premier League visits to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the north Londoners still boast an incredible record against Guardiola sides, with all six of their permanent managers since the Spaniard's arrival in England in 2016 - Mauricio Pochettino, Jose Mourinho, Nuno Espirito Santo, Antonio Conte, Ange Postecoglou and Thomas Frank - beating him at least once.