Real Madrid: Klopp enters ‘first talks’ with club legend ‘intermediary’ who ‘could become assistant’ | OneFootball

Jurgen Klopp has entered ‘first talks’ with a Real Madrid legend acting as an ‘intermediary’, who’s ‘confident’ of persuading him to take up the reins at the Bernabeu and ‘could become’ his assistant.

Xabi Alonso was dismissed last month having only taken charge in the summer, to be replaced by Alvaro Arbeola, for whom things are already looking bleak.

He’s won four of his six games in charge of Real Madrid, but the embarrassing defeats to Albacete, which saw them dumped out of the Copa del Rey, and Benfica, which means they now have to play the Portuguese side again across two legs in a Champions League play-off to qualify for the last 16, has already put him under significant pressure.

Several high-profile managers have been linked with taking over from Arbeola at the end of the season, with reports suggesting Unai Emery is among the frontrunners, though the La Liga giants’ top target remains former Liverpool boss Klopp.

The German is currently thought to be perfectly content in his role of Head of Global Soccer at Red Bull, and he’s said on multiple occasions that Liverpool may have been his last managerial job having left Anfield exhausted.

But that’s not stopping former Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos – who won a whopping six Champions League titles sitting at the base of their midfield – from tapping up his compatriot in a bid to persuade him to take on the job at the Bernabeu.

German outlet Kicker claim Kroos is ‘acting as an intermediary to help Real Madrid’ and aid president Florentino Perez in getting their man.

‘First talks’ have taken place between Klopp and Kroos, during which the former Real Madrid midfielder ‘recommended the manager to not miss the opportunity to lead such an attractive project’.

It’s further claimed that Kroos ‘could become Klopp’s assistant to facilitate his adaptation to Madrid, due to the language barrier’.

Meanwhile, Kylian Mbappe is doing everything possible to clear the path for Klopp by forming ‘a core of players to question the authority of the coach’ – ‘they do not believe anything in him’.

Eduardo Camavinga, Aurélien Tchouaméni and Arda Güler join Mbappe – ‘who acts as a reference for the group’ – in believing Arbeloa ‘does not have the necessary authority to manager the dressing room’.

The report adds that while Mbappe ‘complies on the field’ and remains ‘dedicated to coring goals’, he ‘does not buy the coach’s speech or get involved in the construction of his leadership’.