Jurgen Klopp has dismissed speculation he could succeed Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, by revealing he still has unfinished business at Borussia Dortmund.
The affable German is regarded as one of the best coaches in Europe, due to his success since succeeding Thomas Doll at the Signal Iduna Park in the summer of 2008. Klopp guided Dortmund to their first Bundesliga title in nine years in 2011, and retained the crown the following season. He added the German Cup to that latter success, and in 2013 he led them to a UEFA Champions League final.
This season has been a difficult one for the 47-year-old, though. Die Borussen, who finished a distant second to Bayern Munich last season, are currently in the bottom three of the Bundesliga, having won just three of their opening dozen fixtures. For a team expected to challenge for the title to be 19 points adrift already seems damning, but there has been no talk of Klopp being dismissed.
The same can’t be said of Wenger, who appeared to win over his doubters when he led Arsenal to FA Cup glory in May to end a nine-year trophy drought. But despite adding to his squad during the summer, there doesn’t seem to be much progress being made at the Emirates Stadium, with the Gunners already out of the League Cup and sitting 15 points behind Chelsea in the Premier League.
This has resulted in speculation that the Frenchman could soon lose the job he has held since 1996, and the general consensus is that Klopp would be the ideal person to assume his position as head coach of the London club. And this only intensified when the Dortmund boss was quoted as saying he would be open to a move to England as it is the only other country where he can speak the language.
However, speaking ahead of the Champions League meeting between the two sides on Wednesday evening, when Arsenal can guarantee a place in the last-16 which Dortmund have already cemented, Klopp hit back at the journalist he provided the interview to, and has revealed that whilst the Premier League could be an option in the future, he isn’t ready to leave his current club.
“I thought it was a serious journalist!” he joked. “For my sort of coaching I need the language. The only [foreign] language I can speak is English. That’s all I said. I don’t think about my future in this moment. I don’t plan. If someone called me after I have finished at Dortmund then we can talk about it. I didn’t say I’m coming on Monday. I have unfinished business at Dortmund for sure.”
If Arsenal were to approach Klopp at the end of the season, do you think he would be tempted? Let us know what you think about it by joining in the discussion below.
