Jurgen Klopp is open to managing Real Madrid next season, but he has set a rather complicated condition for agreeing to leave his current job at Red Bull and take on the potentially risky challenge at the Santiago Bernabéu.
The German coach has told the media that he is happy in his current role with Red Bull and indicated that the rumors linking him to Real Madrid don’t interest him, as they are simply unfounded.
However, Spanish media outlets insist that Klopp’s statements were merely diplomatic and that he remains interested in the idea of managing Real Madrid and is willing to return to coaching only for the Spanish giants or the German national team.
According to some reports, the 58-year-old Klopp’s condition for taking over at Real Madrid is having complete control over which players might leave or join the team during his tenure.
There are some players Klopp doesn’t actually want in his squad, most notably right-back and captain Dani Carvajal, and left-back Ferland Mendy.
While Klopp’s demands seem reasonable, fulfilling them at Real Madrid is difficult. Since José Mourinho’s tenure, no manager has had control over transfers for over 12 years; the entire matter has remained in the hands of president Florentino Pérez.
Xabi Alonso tried to exert his influence on transfers, demanding the signing of Martín Zubimendi last summer and wanting players like Mendy to leave. As a result, Pérez signed other players and kept the French full-back.
Klopp is known for his strong personality and is difficult to control. He will also seek complete control within the dressing room and will not tolerate any player rebellion. Therefore, he will need the support of the board, who do not favor this approach and were one of the reasons for Alonso’s dismissal.
