‘SWAP DEAL’ Jürgen Klopp could add up for Liverpool but only after two-year delay

Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp is desperately wanted by the German FA but he won’t be leaving Anfield yet. For the future, though, a suggestion has been put forward.

Jürgen Klopp and Julian Nagelsmann before Liverpool took on RB Leipzig in the Champions League in 2021.

The time for Jürgen Klopp departing Liverpool is certainly not here yet. But with the German national team job having become available again this week, the talk about what the future looks like for the Reds boss has returned.

German outlet Sport BILD (as translated by Sport Witness) reports that Julian Nagelsmann could take on the national team job following the sacking of Hansi Flick. That much makes sense, but the publication also says that Klopp could take over at the end of the season, with Nagelsmann swapping places with him after the 2024 European Championships.

The Liverpool job has been attractive to Nagelsmann previously, the report says, and he has turned down advances from other clubs since leaving Bayern Munich because he is reluctant to take a step down for his next move. While he would not want a national team job for long at this time in his career, Nagelsmann could supposedly be convinced on a short-term deal, where he would be there only a few months, taking charge of a home tournament, before Klopp took over.

If Joachim Löw had seen out his contract with the German national team, he would have departed in 2022 and the idea from those behind the scenes at the federation has long been to entice Klopp toward the role. But would it be appealing just yet?

The idea that Klopp could leave Liverpool next summer — still with two years left on the contract extension he penned in 2022 at that point — seems a little far-fetched. Klopp is tied down at Anfield until 2026 and there have been no signs yet that he is preparing to wind down, even if he has previously made clear he will not be a manager into his older years.

There is still time to think about doing both, however. While Klopp might miss the day-to-day work that comes with a club job if he were to leave soon, the German national team role could allow him more time with his family. Eventually, if not just yet, that will hold some appeal and it is not that hard to see him thinking about that as a kind of bridge before retirement.

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When it comes to replacements, Nagelsmann would appear to be one of the stronger candidates for Liverpool to consider. There are others, of course — Xabi Alonso and Roberto de Zerbi, to name just two possible options — but despite his disappointing time with Bayern Munich, the young German is still a very qualified coach. He has also worked within the Red Bull system, which often aligns with the thinking at Anfield, and is one of the best up-and-coming coaches in the world.

Much will, as ever, come down to timing. If Klopp and Nagelsmann were both prepared to swap places next summer, as the report from Germany suggested, then it would work. If that swapping of places was going to have to wait until 2026 or beyond when Klopp was prepared to leave Liverpool for a less demanding position, perhaps Nagelsmann would need another job in between. At the very least, it would require him to accept taking the Germany job for three years plus instead of less than one.

But ultimately, as Liverpool 2.0 begins to formulate under Klopp, it seems unlikely that he would be interested in leaving any time soon — even though 2026 is not that far away. At 36, Nagelsmann will still very much be an option then, and German interest in Klopp is going absolutely nowhere. A swapping of places should not be ruled out, therefore, but it does seem highly unlikely that it would be happening next summer. Instead, it would need to be at some point further down the line.