Liverpool ITK Names Three Potential Successors to Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool

When Jurgen Klopp took the reins at Anfield, Liverpool had played Champions League football just once in half a decade.

Fast forward five years, and the club are European champions (featuring in back-to-back finals) and lead the halted Premier League by 25 points. It's little wonder fans will not want to contemplate life without the popular German in the Anfield dugout.

Klopp isn't going anywhere fast, having signed a new Liverpool deal in December which runs until 2024. 

However, there will be a day when the curtain comes down on his illustrious Anfield tenure, and Liverpool journalist James Pearce has been speculating about the potential candidates to step into his shoes.

In a Q&A for ​The Athletic, the journalist listed three names who could take over from Klopp in 2024 at the 'earliest'.

The first is Pep Lijnders, Klopp's current assistant manager. Lijnders would not likely leave Anfield when Klopp chooses to, having been at the club prior to the ​Liverpool boss' 2015 arrival.

The 37-year-old joined Liverpool in 2014 to assist Brendan Rodgers, and remained when Klopp took the hot seat. 

Lijnders briefly left Merseyside in 2018 to pursue managerial ambitions of his own, taking charge of Dutch outfit NEC. However, he was sacked after four months in charge and returned to Liverpool that summer.

On the possibility of Lijnders taking permanent charge, Pearce wrote: "Pep Lijnders is massively respected by the owners and is a popular figure throughout the club.

"He would certainly be part of the conversation when it comes to successors."

Pearce's second perspective candidate is highly-rated RB Leipzig head coach Julian Nagelsmann.

Nagelsmann was handed his first Bundesliga job at the tender age of 28. Within a season, he had saved Hoffenheim from relegation and secured Champions League football for the first time in the club's history.

On Nagelsmann, Pearce added: "If RB Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann’s managerial career remains on an upward curve at that time, he’s bound to be of interest too."

Pearce's final managerial candidate is, unsurprisingly, Liverpool icon Steven Gerrard, who is currently enjoying/enduring his first spell in management at Scottish giants Rangers.

"I still think Steven Gerrard is destined to manage Liverpool," Pearce added. "I know their domestic form hasn’t been great recently but in general, he’s done a great job at Rangers. 

"In football, it’s all about timing. I’d love to see Gerrard enjoy success over the next few years, whether that’s at Ibrox or at another club, and then be in a position where he has sufficient experience to be Klopp’s successor."