Jurgen Klopp reunion mooted for recent Pep Guardiola coaching staff departee | OneFootball

Pepijn Lijnders is taking some time out following his Manchester City departure and some believe his next step could be a reunion with Jurgen Klopp, should the former Liverpool manager take charge of the Germany national team.

Lijnders left the Etihad Stadium alongside Pep Guardiola and the rest of the backroom staff in May after a single season at the club that delivered the Carabao Cup and FA Cup double, as well as a Premier League title race that went to the final week of the season.

The Dutchman cited family reasons as the primary driver behind his decision to step away, insisting that moving back to England for another year was “no longer an option” given his desire for a permanent base for his family.

Lijnders spent years working under Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool before joining Manchester City, with Klopp having given his blessing to Guardiola before approaching the Dutchman last summer: a relationship that has remained close throughout the years.

Report: Klopp reunion possible for Lijnders

As per Mike Keegan of Mail Sport, Lijnders is taking some time out following his Manchester City departure and some believe his next step will be to reunite with Jurgen Klopp, should the German take the Germany National Team job in future.

Klopp has been heavily linked with the Germany vacancy since stepping down at Liverpool in 2024, though he has yet to return to management in any capacity, taking a sabbatical of his own since his Anfield departure.

A Germany role, if and when it materialises, would be a natural fit for both men given the depth of their working relationship built across years at Anfield.

What is the wider context for Lijnders’ future?

Lijnders’ decision to take time out mirrors the approach of Guardiola himself, who admitted at a Cruyff Foundation inauguration event over the weekend that he does not know what his next move in football will be.

The pair spent a single but eventful season together at the Etihad Stadium, with Lijnders describing Guardiola as approaching a match plan “like a surgeon performs heart surgery” in a recent interview with Dutch outlet AD.nl.

Whether the Klopp reunion comes to fruition will depend entirely on the German’s own timeline and appetite for a return to management, with no concrete developments having emerged on either front since the end of the season.