Jurgen Klopp has offered the most significant clue yet that he is unlikely to return to club management, as he opened up about his new life after Liverpool.
Klopp resigned as Reds manager last week after nearly nine years in command to take what he insists would be an extended 12-month vacation.
The German has since spent time in Mallorca, where he acquired a villa two years ago, but he returned to Liverpool on Tuesday for a farewell ceremony at the M&S Bank Arena.
While Klopp, who is 57 in a fortnight, is not ready to retire just yet, he has once again hinted that he no longer has the energy to function in the manner he would like as a club manager.
“It is unlikely that I will stop working completely,” stated the German. “But I do not see myself continuing at the same speed as before at this time.
“Coaches are coaches. You do it with whatever you have, or nothing at all. That is how I interpret it. Now I am taking some time off. How am I meant to know how I will feel during and after my time off, and what I want to do? I have no idea. “Let us wait and see.”
Klopp’s villa in the Mallorcan town of Santa Ponsa, which was reputedly purchased for £3.4 million, is getting final touches on a significant refurbishment to transform it into an environmentally friendly eco-house.
Speaking on the Willipedia podcast, the former Liverpool manager explained his choice to buy property on the island with his wife Ulla, saying: “We are getting older, and the medical care here is excellent. There are many German doctors, and I would like to be able to grasp everything, including how I feel, should the problems become more serious.
“I have always wanted a house in the south. I like the weather, climate, and people. There is a lot to like here. Also, people I already know. It is not as if I am looking for new buddies. I already have lifelong friends, and it would be great if some of them could join me here.
“I do not wish to emigrate. We go on vacation here every now and then. But when I am here, I want everything to be the way I know it. That is completely dull. But the point is that I want to experience a different lifestyle, but not in the forest or on a mountain.”