Chelsea given encouragement over shock Jurgen Klopp approach – ‘Go and speak’

Jurgen Klopp hasn’t returned to management since leaving Liverpool at the end of the 2023/24 season but Chelsea have been encouraged to explore a move for the German

As Chelsea wait to appoint a permanent successor to Enzo Maresca, they have been encouraged to test the water over a shock swoop for Jurgen Klopp. Maresca’s Chelsea exit was confirmed on New Year’s Day, with Strasbourg manager Liam Rosenior the early front-runner to replace him.

Former Blues star Joe Cole, however, has urged the club to put feelers out over Klopp. The ex-Liverpool boss has been out of management since leaving Anfield at the end of the 2023/24 season and has spent the last 12 months as Red Bull’s head of global soccer.

When asked to name his ideal candidate for the Chelsea job, Cole told Paddy Power: “I know it’s a mental one but Jurgen Klopp, I know he probably won’t even consider it because it’s Chelsea and he’s Liverpool, but you just never know.

“If your main aim as a football club is to win trophies and you have the money, you go and speak to the top, top boys,” he added. “I know it seems like it’s pie in the sky, but if you don’t have that mindset then you’re always banking on developing the next best manager, which they thought they were doing with Enzo Maresca.”

He also spoke highly of Rosenior, though, saying: “I’ve known Liam a long time, he was on trial as a young player at West Ham and had a very good career in the Premier League. Obsessive about football, fits the bill in terms of where Chelsea have gone with their last few managers, young and something to prove.”

As Cole indicates, it would be a tall order to convince Klopp to return to management with one of Liverpool’s Premier League rivals, indeed, were the German to do so, it would go against the comments he made when confirming his Liverpool exit in January 2024.

“What I know definitely – I will never, ever manage a different club in England than Liverpool, 100 per cent. That’s not possible,” he said. “My love for this club, my respect for the people is too big. I couldn’t.

“I couldn’t for a second think about it. There’s no chance. This is part of my life, we are part of the family, we feel home here. There’s no chance to do that.”