EVERYTHING about Bayern Munich screams success. From the radiant red-lit super stadium that looms large and is hard to find fault with, to the reminders of the trophies lifted in the club’s 119-year history that surround the walls inside and out at the Allianz Arena.
Clue: It’s a lot. The most successful team in German football history have won a record 28 national titles and 18 national cups. Throw in the small matter of five European Cups on top and it’s a club deservedly regarded as one of the biggest in the world with supporters all around.
It’s why Liverpool fans celebrated landing a Champions League knockout in Munich with such gusto. And it’s why Jurgen Klopp said that result put Liverpool “back on the international landscape as a football club”.
Liverpool, of course, also has a rich history of success. But as Klopp seeks to add to that in the present day, each step towards making it so will not go unnoticed among the football elite, some of whom may fancy their chances at luring talent away from Anfield.
Philippe Coutinho, Luis Suarez and Raheem Sterling have all been tempted away in the relatively recent past. Currently, Sadio Mane’s form is said to be catching Real Madrid’s eye. Again.
It’s happened before, and it will happen again. But while players being linked to a move away from Anfield is nothing new, murmurs around the manager’s future is a lesser-experienced phenomenon for fans of a red persuasion.
When Liverpool were paired with Bayern Munich in the Champions League, the tale of Klopp so nearly becoming manager of the Bavarian club in 2008 was quickly rehashed, repackaged and re-released for mass consumption.
And Bayern didn’t look too shy about getting involved.
“Many years ago we agreed on a collaboration together, but we ended up signing Jurgen Klinsmann instead,” said Bayern president Uli Hoeness.
A slightly different version of events is detailed in Klopp's 2016 autobiography with Elmar Neveling, which claims he got wind of the club’s elite being unsure about his credentials and pulled out of the running before Jurgen Klinsmann was appointed.
Either way, that was then. But in the here and now Bayern legend Franz Beckenbauer hasn’t been subtle with his opinions, either, saying: “Jurgen Klopp at FC Bayern. That would be the highlight. Jurgen was the one who taught the Germans how to play football quickly."
Klopp – who has repeatedly made it clear he, at the very least, intends to see out his current contract, which runs until 2022 – moved quickly to dampen the inevitable dot joining.
"I love it here, there are lots of opportunities to develop an already really good team,” he said. “I have enough confidence to say I am the right manager for Liverpool at the moment, though in football we all constantly have to prove ourselves."
He added: "So far it has worked out and hopefully it will last a lot longer. That would be cool, because I hope that in 50 or 60 years I can be remembered without referring to managing many different clubs. I am happy with the clubs I have had.”
The last couple of sentences in particular appear key. Klopp has always appeared to be a man with a plan. As much as you can in football, he knows what he wants to do, where he wants to do it and for how long – evidenced by the fact that, deep into his managerial career, Klopp is only on his third job after seven years at Mainz and the same period at Borussia Dortmund.
It’s worth recalling that before he swapped the Bundesliga for the Premier League, Klopp was courted for a string of top jobs. Bayern, as detailed, but also Manchester United (a pitch Klopp reportedly found “a bit unsexy”), Arsenal and Manchester City.
Klopp was then described by a leading football magazine as the “most wanted manager in the world” and it appeared English clubs in particular were queuing up to bring him on board.
Klopp had his pick of jobs, and his pick of clubs. He chose Liverpool and did so for a reason. As with his previous role at Dortmund, you can assume he saw promise and potential. But he also saw something else. A synergy with his system. A romance. An energy he could harness.
Some mock and moan about Liverpool FC and its ways; the fan culture, the support, the songs, the flags and the banners. But where some see a problem, Klopp saw an opportunity.
Since his appointment at Anfield he has worked long and hard on not only turning over and improving the squad, but on transforming the mentality – on and off the field. He has improved players, changed how they think, how hard they run, how much they battle. And he has the fans hardwired differently, too. Where once there was whinging, whining and walkouts, now there is confidence, cockiness, and a regular show of true support that was once lacking.
The progress is clear, but the job isn’t done. And while the tattle about trophy or bust being the mark of a manager worth his salt continues, the bigger picture is that Klopp has created what looks to be a sustainable Liverpool challenge at the top end of football after an all-too-familiar pattern of boom then bust at Anfield.
“The Normal One” as he once described himself, is mid-project. Those hours in the garden are paying off. The borders are bright and the grass is green. But there is so much more to come. Much more to blossom and bloom. So why would he walk away now?
Klopp is 51 years old now and has the demeanour of a man enjoying his work at Liverpool. Few doubt him, most believe. The twin opportunities of a league title and a Champions League glint tantalisingly in the present while a Liverpool on the up and up towards the very top waves from the future.
Bayern Munich need a reboot, need a leader, need players, need vision and need a plan. But that plan is not our man. Klopp is rooted and suited at Anfield. Munich must flirt elsewhere.
A £10 bet on Liverpool to win the Champions League returns £50
