Liverpool plans to confirm Jürgen Klopp's appointment as manager "by the end of the week" after the German coach indicated he will accept the club's offer to move to Anfield, according to Chris Bascombe of the London TELEGRAPH. Klopp's recruitment "now looks a formality with negotiations expected to be completed over the next few days." The former Borussia Dortmund manager "has no qualms about working within the existing club structure and it is understood that he will sign a three‑year deal." It is expected that he will head to Merseyside "in the next 48 hours" for further negotiations, with an announcement possible as soon as Friday. Liverpool owner Fenway Sports Group is "moving swiftly" to secure Klopp, twice a Bundesliga winner as coach, to "ensure that he has a week to prepare" for the next Premier League fixture with Tottenham Hotspur. Klopp "did not disguise his eagerness to discuss the position" and he has long been seen as FSG's "prototype manager." He was Liverpool's "dream choice on taking over the club" as far back as '10 but Klopp was "out of their reach as he enjoyed his peak spell in German football." His availability now is "undoubtedly a key reason for the departure of Brendan Rodgers so soon into this campaign" (TELEGRAPH, 10/6). In London, Andy Hunter reported negotiations are being led by FSG President Mike Gordon. It is understood Klopp’s former assistant at Dortmund, Zeljko Buvac, and the coach, Peter Krawietz, "would join him at Liverpool should talks continue to proceed smoothly." Their arrival "would raise doubts over the Anfield futures of Sean O’Driscoll and Gary McAllister, the assistant manager and first-team coach respectively, who only moved to Liverpool last summer." Liverpool still has to agree to "a compensation package with Rodgers, who issued a statement through the League Managers Association on Monday, expressing disappointment at FSG's decision" but also his thanks for the opportunity to manage the club. FSG intends to "persevere with the transfer committee that saw such poor results during Rodgers' reign" and Klopp's role within it "may yet prove a complication, although he delegated over player recruitment at the Westfalenstadion" (GUARDIAN, 10/5).
FROM A DISTANCE: The BBC reported FSG has no plans to travel to the U.K. and, at this stage, plans to "oversee the recruitment process" from the U.S. Former Germany midfielder Stefan Effenberg believes Klopp will be back coaching "very, very soon" and thinks he is suited to Anfield. Effenberg is "a good friend of Klopp" and said, "He gave me this answer a couple of weeks ago. He said, 'I'm ready for a team that's not on the highest level, to create something, to build something up;' This could be Liverpool, right?" Colin Bell, who worked with Klopp at Bundesliga club FSV Mainz, said that the "charismatic" 48-year-old "lives his football." Bell: "He's not an actor in this sense. He's authentic, he can show his emotions -- you can see that on the sidelines when he gets upset with referees or his players" (BBC, 10/6).
STICKING TO THE PLAN: Bascombe reported in a separate piece to understand why Liverpool does not allow its manager "full control of transfer policy we must return" to Oct. '10, when FSG bought the club. As FSG Owner John W. Henry assessed how Liverpool -- and English football clubs in general -- "recruited players, the lack of analytics and overemphasis on the judgment of a single, all powerful manager left him bewildered and a tad horrified." Expecting the coach "not only to train the players, but also oversee scouting, buying and selling, determine salaries, contract renewals and termination payments is an alien concept in American sports." Henry also realized European clubs "do not tolerate it." It remains a "peculiarly English concept." To FSG it is "outdated, fraught with danger and highly vulnerable to exploitation." Former ManU Manager Alex Ferguson "may have possessed an eye for a player and a history of sound judgment to justify this authority," but FSG "vowed no manager would be granted such control at Anfield." For all the criticism, there is "nothing radical about Liverpool's approach." It is a "perfectly reasonable, modern club structure on the continent" and applied by Man City, Southampton and Aston Villa among an increasing number in the Premier League (TELEGRAPH, 10/5).
