Jurgen Klopp Breaks Into Tears As He Discloses Talks With Arne Slot

Klopp appeared at an event called An Evening With Jurgen Klopp at the M&S Bank Arena, with hosts John Bishop and Peter McDowall and performances from The Lightning Seeds, The Zutons, and opera singer Alfie Boe, who performed You’ll Never Walk Alone. The 56-year-old spoke about his experiences since taking the job in October 2015 before the inevitable emotional finale.

The arena burst out into song, rising to their feet to clap along. Klopp held himself together for a minute before it all became too much and he began crying into his hand.

It wasn’t all emotional – the evening also saw Klopp confirm that he has spoken to his successor about the challenge awaiting him. Slot is arriving from Dutch side Feyenoord to replace Klopp and will begin in the coming days.

“I spoke to pretty much everybody on the new leadership team,” Klopp said. “He’s a really good manager.”

Klopp received a hero’s welcome to the stage. On his end, he didn’t disappoint the gigantic crowd, coming out with some classic lines, one of which was: “Aside from marrying Ulla, joining Liverpool was the best decision of my life.”

The German spoke about his pride at becoming an honorary Scouser and how he would remain a fan of the club for the rest of his life. As well as chatting to Bishop and McDowall, Klopp was played video messages of thanks from stars like Daniel Craig and Paddy Pimblett.

Having left the hectic life of Liverpool manager, Klopp now plans to rest and recuperate before taking on another job. “Will I ever work again? Of course, I know myself, I cannot just sit around,” he said after his final game. “I will find something else maybe to do. But I will not manage a club or a country at least for a year, that’s not possible, I cannot do that and I don’t want to.”