Liverpool legend raises FSG question over Jurgen Klopp and Michael Edwards
Legendary former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp will return to football when he takes a position as Red Bull's global head of soccer in January
Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler has suggested Fenway Sports Group have "missed a trick" allowing Jurgen Klopp to leave the club before offering him a different role in their restructured football operations department. Klopp confirmed this week that he is to return to football to take up a position of global head of soccer with the Red Bull group in January.
The German will oversee Red Bull's five-club stable that includes in Salzburg, where former assistant Pep Lijnders is currently in charge.
After Klopp went public with his decision to leave Liverpool, at the end of last season back in January, owners FSG rejigged their setup at the top of club, bringing in Michael Edwards as their CEO of football before Richard Hughes was headhunted to become a permanent sporting director.
Fowler says he isn't surprised to see Klopp back in football so soon but has questioned whether the Boston-based FSG could have opened up a similar position for their iconic former manager to the one he has just accepted with Red Bull.
Writing in his column for the Sunday Mirror, Fowler said: "Once football gets in your blood you are hooked.
"That’s why I wasn’t surprised to hear that Jurgen Klopp had returned to the game just four months after admitting that he just didn’t have the energy to carry on as Liverpool manager. I knew Jurgen would be back - and sooner rather than later.
"One thing that did cross my mind when Klopp’s appointment with Red Bull was announced was whether Liverpool had actually missed a trick.
"Michael Edwards has been brought back to Anfield to take up a role which appears to be very similar to the one Klopp has now accepted. Would it have been possible to keep one of the club’s greatest-ever managers in the fold? Or did both sides agree that his time was up?
"If Klopp can impart his wisdom on to the Red Bull stable then it will prove to be a masterstroke of an appointment. But at the age of 57, I am sure he will eventually be desperate to get back out there on the grass at some point.
"If it’s accurate that Jurgen has a clause in his Red Bull contract that enables him to walk out should he be offered the chance to become coach of Germany, then it is obvious what his end-game is. And again, international football’s less demanding schedule will afford him that valuable time with his nearest and dearest."
Fowler also said Klopp could be a possibility for the Football Association as they continue to find a permanent replacement for Gareth Southgate, whose long-serving reign came to an end after the Three Lions' European Championship final defeat to Spain in July.
"Perhaps that scenario might also be of interest at the FA, given England are still in the process of deciding whether Lee Carsley will become Gareth Southgate’s successor on a permanent basis," Fowler added. "But my gut feeling is that home is where the heart is for Jurgen Norbert Klopp."