Jürgen Klopp’s Agent Dishes Out Savage Response to New Real Madrid Plea
In the face of constant rebuttals from Jürgen Klopp and his agent Marc Kosicke, Real Madrid presidential candidate Enrique Riquelme has remained defiant that the revered German coach could still be tempted into the managerial hot seat at the Bernabéu for one simple (if misguided) reason: “Real Madrid is different.”
Riquelme has followed the Florentino Pérez path on his presidential campaign trail, promising Real Madrid fans the world. Deals for Rodri and Erling Haaland are supposedly in the pipeline, a fleet of legendary figures are set to return to the club in various positions of power and, for his final trick, Riquelme is going to pull Jürgen Klopp out of his magician’s hat.
“We know that Jürgen Klopp has publicly stated he has no intention of returning to the dugout in the short term, and that he has turned down numerous offers,” the 37-year-old renewable energy entrepreneur accepted in a statement released on Friday, two days before voting begins.
“That is precisely why we believe the challenge of Real Madrid is different,” Riquelme argued.
There are great clubs, but there is only one Real Madrid.
- Enrique Riquelme
“There is only one institution capable of uniting tradition and future, values and ambition, passion and excellence.
“For that reason, if the members grant me their trust this Sunday, on Monday Raúl will contact Jürgen Klopp to convey to him personally our sporting project and our wish for him to be the one to lead, from the bench, a new era for Real Madrid.”
‘Annoying’—Savage Response to Riquelme’s Klopp Plea
Jürgen Klopp has been heavily linked with the Real Madrid job. / Ronny HARTMANN/AFP/Getty Images
The appeal of Klopp, who has inspired successful and exciting brands of soccer in both Germany and England, is obvious. “We are speaking of one of the finest coaches of our time,” Riquelme gushed.
“But, above all, we are speaking of a leader capable of restoring to Real Madrid the competitive intensity, the daily demands, the professionalism, the meritocracy, the dressing-room unity and the pride in a job well done that have always characterized the great eras of our history.”
Yet, quite why Klopp would willingly toss himself into the volatile setting of a club fighting each other in the locker room and the boardroom, is not so clear. The former Liverpool manager’s agent, Kosicke, swiftly shut down this speculation. “It’s annoying!” he fumed to Sky Germany. “Jürgen Klopp is happy in his role at Red Bull and has no ambitions to work as a coach at a club.”
Klopp himself has expressed frustrations with constant links to Real Madrid—which began bubbling away long before Pérez called this snap election and never looked like coming to fruition.
Why Klopp and Real Madrid Would Be a Bizarre Match
Jürgen Klopp (left) is a very different character to Carlo Ancelotti. / Soccrates/Getty Images
“There’s two types of coaches,” Carlo Ancelotti, one of only two managers who have succeeded at Real Madrid in the last two decades, once mused, “those who do nothing and those who do a lot of damage. I try to be in the first group.”
Klopp unmistakenly belongs to the second group.
The appeal of the high priest of high pressing is the style of soccer he transplants onto a club. Klopp’s approach is more subtle than the “heavy metal” tagline he would forever regret using but it is a clear style nonetheless. It’s also one which would not obviously suit many members of Madrid’s current roster.
As has been relentlessly pointed out on social media since the campaign’s conclusion, no player in Europe’s top five leagues averaged fewer defensive contributions than Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé, who managed to collect four yellow cards despite only winning one tackle across the entire La Liga season.
Madrid have always been a club defined by their players rather than the managers, who are so often forced to be subservient to those figures on the pitch.
This is why Riquelme’s claim about Klopp is so muddled. Real Madrid being Real Madrid is not why he would be tempted to come back to management—it’s one of the main reasons that would scare him away from the job in the first place.
