Next Liverpool Manager: Who Are the Favourites?

In the world of football, transitions for clubs are inevitable. Players, managers and staff come and go and as the curtain draws on Klopp’s incredible tenure at Liverpool Football Club, the search begins for who will take charge of the new era at LFC. The charismatic German from Stuttgart will forever be mentioned alongside other Liverpool legends from the past, names like Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley and Kenny Dalglish. The job of taking Liverpool to familiar heights has taken its toll on Klopp who said in his interview he was “running out of energy” and while it will be sad to see him go, it is clear that Klopp wants to leave while Liverpool are in a good place and can cope with losing him.

The Reds have already secured one trophy this season, beating Chelsea in the Carabao Cup Final. They’re still fighting for the Premier League title and the Europa League. The midfield rebuild that was much needed appears to have gone well with players like Mac Allister, Szoboszlai and Endo filling voids left by Henderson and Fabinho in the summer. The stadium has gone through an incredible refurbishment with the brand new Anfield Road Stand expanding the capacity of Anfield to over 60,000 seats and LFC can again compete for the highest honours. But, it’s time for a new manager to carry on what Klopp has started, so, who are the managers being lined up to succeed the great German and who do we think would fit in best at Liverpool?

The Favourites 

Ruben Amorim – Sporting

A name that has been near the top of the list since the Klopp announcement has been a young manager from Portugal, Ruben Amorim. His tenure at Sporting led the club to their first league title in nearly two decades, competing with the duopoly of Benfica and Porto. It would be a huge step from Sporting to Liverpool and it remains to be seen whether the young manager could handle the pressure of managing one of the biggest clubs in the world. His style of play is seen as highly intense and aggressive but Amorim is also able to be flexible, changing his tactics to suit every occasion.

Roberto De Zerbi – Brighton

The Italian took over from Graham Potter in 2022 and led Brighton to 6th in the table and qualification for the Europa League. Although the Brighton manager has seen his team significantly drop off compared to last season, it is clear that De Zerbi is more than capable of competing with the best managers around. He is known for his commitment to attacking football which the Anfield faithful could get behind. Brighton’s performance this season will be a worry for those in charge of replacing Klopp but De Zerbi is sure to be in the conversation.

Other Favourites

Julian Nagelsmann – Germany

The Germany manager is set to leave his post at the national side after EURO 2024. After a successful spell at RB Leipzig, he took over at Bayern Munich in 2021, winning the league in the same year and being sacked towards the end of the 22/23 season in which Bayern Munich would win the league on the final day. Germany’s performance in the EUROs will be a big part of whether LFC make their interest more concrete, so we’ll have to wait and see how they perform over the summer.

Simone Inzaghi – Inter

The Inter Milan coach has been impressive during his time as manager of the Italian Giants and it looks set to continue this season. Inter currently find themselves at the top of Serie A by 14 points. Reaching the final of the Champions League last season was seen as a huge overachievement and while they won’t reach the final this year after being knocked out by Atletico Madrid, the Italian’s style of play and overall dominance in the league has seen him become a name mentioned with the biggest jobs in football.

Xabi Alonso – Leverkusen

Xabi Alonso was many people’s favourite to take over from Klopp, having been an ex-player and Champions League winner with The Reds. He has had an incredible season with Leverkusen, going unbeaten and close to winning the Bundesliga for the first time in Leverkusen’s history. However, it appears that Alonso has decided to stay at Leverkusen for at least another season. His decision leaves the door open to join Real Madrid at the end of next season when Carlo Ancelotti’s contract ends.

Challenges to Face

One of the many challenges facing a potential new manager at LFC is the incredibly high expectations that the fans, club hierarchy and players will have. Although Klopp leaves the club in an incredible position, there is no guarantee that any manager can follow what he has done. There is also the change in structure at the club to contend with. Michael Edwards, former Director of football has returned to the club to work as CEO of football. Richard Hughes is imminently set to join Liverpool from Bournemouth as the new Director of Football, so all eyes will be on Liverpool to see how it all plays out.

Another challenge is the competitive nature of the Premier League. LFC are currently involved in a ‘three-horse race’ for the title and the league is only going to get more competitive. Any new manager will need to be able to compete with the likes of Manchester City and Arsenal while adhering to the Profit and Sustainability rules put in place by the Premier League.

While many will feel that Klopp’s departure comes when the club is in the best position to deal with such a huge loss, others will think that Klopp is simply irreplaceable and that LFC will need to deal with a transitional period before they can be back to their best.

Liverpool FC Hospitality Packages

We still have some hospitality tickets available for Liverpool FC’s remaining home games, giving you the chance to see Jurgen Klopp in the Anfield dugout before he leaves in the summer. You can check out the remaining fixtures and available tickets, here: Liverpool FC Hospitality Packages