Liverpool’s long goodbye to Jurgen Klopp is underway, but as the club bid an emotional farewell to their most successful boss for a generation, they know exactly how important the decision over his successor will be.
The German will end a nine-year stint at Anfield in the summer, during which time he was won every major trophy with the club, including their first league title for 30 years and Liverpool's sixth European Cup.
The likes of Xabi Alonso, Roberto De Zerbi and Julian Nagelsmann have been mentioned as early candidates for the upcoming vacancy, but the club are not believed to have anyone lined up for the role.
Speaking on January 26, transfer journalist Ben Jacobs discussed where Liverpool are with their process and how it should pan out. He told FourFourTwo: “I think first of all Liverpool have got a process and knowing that Klopp was going in November, a succession plan is in place and you'd expect them to be thorough and interview multiple candidates. All indications are that there's nobody pre-lined up.”
Jacobs also believes that the club could go after a younger target, with Nagelsmann only 38-year-old and Alonso also early in his management career at 42.
“So Mike Gordon, will lead the process, the FSG chief, and naturally be looking for some kind of continuity. And that's why I think that Nagelsmann might not be the right fit for Liverpool, but it wouldn't surprise me if he's under consideration as well.
“And then I would expect Liverpool to also maybe have some left-field candidates, some that are a little bit younger, some that are up and coming, some that have group experience because if you sort of look back to their search for Jurgen Klopp, and who else was considered at the time, they weren't afraid to obviously look outside of the Premier League, but also there was no issue going younger.
“And sometimes that's just because why wouldn't you interview five candidates even if some of the names are not the leading ones to get that sort of perspective?”
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