Jurgen Klopp eyes former Manchester City coach for Germany assistant manager role | OneFootball

Incoming Germany manager Jurgen Klopp is eyeing an approach for Pep Guardiola’s final assistant coach at Manchester City, according to new reports.

Klopp’s long-anticipated appointment as Germany manager is edging closer to fruition, with the former Liverpool manager now understood to be putting together the backroom staff he intends to bring with him as he prepares to take charge of the national team.

The German tactician enjoyed one of the most decorated managerial partnerships in recent football history with Lijnders during their time together at Anfield, with the Dutchman regarded as a significant architect of the high-intensity, counter-pressing style that defined Liverpool’s most successful period under Klopp’s stewardship.

Lijnders subsequently served on Guardiola’s final coaching staff at Manchester City, adding another prestigious chapter to a coaching career that has seen him work alongside two of the most celebrated managers of the modern era, before Guardiola’s departure from the Etihad Stadium at the end of last season brought that particular association to a close.

The prospect of a reunion with Klopp at international level now appears to be gaining real momentum, with fresh reports indicating that the incoming Germany manager has identified Lijnders as his preferred choice to serve alongside him as he embarks on the next chapter of his managerial career on the international stage.

Report: Klopp ‘targeting reunion’ with Lijnders as Germany build their backroom staff

According to Sam Wallace of The Telegraph, Klopp is targeting a reunion with Lijnders when he, as expected, formally assumes the role of Germany men’s national team manager – a partnership that would reunite two of the most recognisable figures from Liverpool’s celebrated period of domestic and European success.

The report underlines the degree to which Klopp values continuity and trust within his coaching environment, having previously spoken at length about the importance of shared philosophy and personal chemistry in building a backroom team capable of translating ideas from the training pitch onto the field of play.

Lijnders’s experience under Klopp at Liverpool and Guardiola at Manchester City gives him a coaching profile of rare breadth, having absorbed the methods of two managers widely regarded as the most influential tacticians of their generation – a combination of influences that would make him an extraordinarily valuable asset within any international setup.

It remains unclear whether Lijnders himself has yet been approached or whether discussions are at an early stage, though the specificity of Wallace’s reporting suggests that Klopp’s interest is a genuine and active one rather than a background consideration as Germany’s new management structure begins to take shape.

What does Lijnders’s potential Germany move mean for Man City?

For Manchester City, the story represents a footnote to the broader transition that has swept through the club’s entire coaching infrastructure since Guardiola’s exit, with Enzo Maresca having assembled his own backroom team as he prepares for his first season in charge at the Etihad Stadium.

The departure of Guardiola’s remaining staff members – whether to international football, club management or other opportunities – is an inevitable consequence of a managerial transition of this magnitude, and Lijnders’s potential move to Germany is the latest reminder of the scale of the coaching reset that the Etihad Stadium has witnessed in recent months.

Klopp and Lijnders’s combined experience of winning the Premier League, UEFA Champions League and the Bundesliga titles between them would bring considerable credibility to a Germany setup that has struggled to recapture the consistency of previous generations – and the prospect of that partnership being reassembled on the international stage will be greeted with considerable interest across European football.

Whether the reunion materialises in the way Wallace’s report suggests will depend on both parties reaching an agreement on the structure and terms of Lijnders’s involvement, but with Klopp’s appetite for trusted collaborators well established, the logic of bringing one of his most successful working partnerships back together appears to be a compelling one.