Jurgen Klopp confirmed he once held talks with Napoli s chatty president Aurelio De Laurentiis about potentially becoming the club s coach prior to joining Liverpool.
De Laurentiis has previously spoken of his admiration for Klopp and reports have suggested they discussed a possible collaboration in 2013, when the German was still at Borussia Dortmund.
Rafael Benitez ended up taking the job and Klopp stayed put, but ahead of Tuesday s crunch Champions League clash against Napoli, the Liverpool manager admitted such a conversation took place.
When asked about De Laurentiis claims and whether he wants to coach in Italy one day, Klopp said: I still have a contract here, three and a half years, so I am not sure if anybody wants me after that.
Next up,
Another big European night under the Anfield lights.
— Liverpool FC (@LFC)
I like Italy, I like Italian food, everything is fine, unfortunately I don t speak your language [Italian] that well. That s a problem.
What I like about Mr De Laurentiis is that he doesn t hide with information. He is quite chatty. I don t think I ever told anyone about that talk, but he mentions it all the time.
I think he is happy with all the choices he made. Bringing Maurizio Sarri in was incredible and now Carlo [Ancelotti] is outstanding. They are happy with the coaches they have and have had.
I am happy and at the moment the people are happy with me, and we don t have to think about changing anything.
Liverpool go into Tuesday s match at Anfield knowing they must win to have any chance of sealing a place in the knockout phase, with Napoli and Paris Saint-Germain above them in the Group C before kick-off.
