Former Mainz 05, Borussia Dortmund, and Liverpool FC boss Jürgen Klopp will go down as one of Germany’s all-time great managers, but he never spent a day coach at Bayern Munich.
However, it seems like he almost did.
Per Transfermarkt (as captured by Tz), Klopp came very close to joining the Bavarians twice — once in 2009 and once in 2019:
Rumors surrounding Jürgen Klopp and FC Bayern Munich have been swirling for years. There has been constant speculation about whether the charismatic coach would one
day stand on the sidelines of the German record champions. Now, Klopp’s long-time advisor, Mark Kosicke, has revealed new details to Transfermarkt.de about FC Bayern’s attempts to sign him. According to Kosicke, the club came “very close” on two separate occasions.
The first opportunity likely arose in 2008, when FC Bayern faced a crucial decision: Who should lead the team into a new era? Uli Hoeneß advocated for Jürgen Klopp, while Karl-Heinz Rummenigge favored Jürgen Klinsmann. Ultimately, Klinsmann was chosen, but his tenure was short-lived. Klopp, meanwhile, took over as head coach of Borussia Dortmund.
The second attempt at a move took place in 2019 after the departure of Niko Kovač. However, by that time Klopp was firmly under contract with Liverpool and had led the club to great successes such as winning the Champions League and their first Premier League title in thirty years.
Bayern Munich’s history would be significantly different had Hoeneß won that front office battle instead of Rummenigge, who was behind the ill-fated Klinsmann move. Similarly, Kovač‘s sacking opened the door for Hansi Flick to take over and eventually win a sextuple. Getting Klopp from Liverpool at that stage would have been near-impossible anyway given his status after winning the Champions League during the 2018/19 season.
As for Klopp and if it would have worked out in Bavaria, Kosicke thinks it would have been a good fit between his client the Bayern Munich.
“I don’t see why it shouldn’t have been. Jürgen likes pretzels and had a wheat beer partner in Erdinger. He’s always worked with strong personalities. I wouldn’t have seen any problem there,” Kosicke said.
If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…
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