Sir Alex Ferguson pays tribute across the big divide to Jurgen Klopp… as the legendary Man United manager takes departing Liverpool boss out for dinner to personally bid him goodbye
- Jurgen Klopp will take charge of his final game as Liverpool manager on Sunday
- This week he was invited to dinner by former Man United boss Sir Alex Ferguson
- Marcus Rashford is due to leave Man United… and a Premier League club could offer him a fresh start It all starts! podcast
A dinner with Sir Alex Ferguson and a moving tribute from his players were already part of Jurgen Klopp’s farewell week.
Now the ’emotional’ Liverpool boss must keep his cool as he plans to address a packed crowd at Anfield on Sunday after his final game against Wolves.
Klopp didn’t hesitate to dine with Fergie after the legendary Manchester United manager asked for a chance to say goodbye to him in person. ‘Outstanding’ is how the German described the evening.
He was uncharacteristically quiet as Virgil van Dijk led the speeches for him on Thursday, but Klopp knows he has the message of his life to deliver when he takes the microphone full-time on the pitch on Sunday afternoon.
“I was super emotional at times this week,” he admitted.
Sir Alex Ferguson personally invited Jürgen Klopp (pictured) to dinner in his final week as Liverpool boss
The German described the dinner with Ferguson (photo) as ‘excellent’
Sunday marks the last time that Klopp will take charge of Liverpool, after almost nine years in charge
‘The players said really nice things about me and the other staff who are leaving. I was just joking here and there because if I had actually started saying what I was thinking, I would have gone emotional. So I protected myself from that.
‘On Sunday I have to find the right words. I speak to 60,000 and . . . worldwide. It will be super hard the last time.”
In nine memorable years at Anfield, Klopp became the first manager in the club’s history to win the Premier League, European Cup, FA Cup and League Cup. He also won the Club World Cup and the UEFA Super Cup.
His prize harvest would have been greater than seven without Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City as a formidable competitor.
Klopp hailed Guardiola as the ‘best manager in the world’ but is still keen to hear the outcome of the 115 charges City are facing for allegedly breaching Premier League financial rules.
‘Everyone would like to know. “I’d like to know, but I’ll be somewhere else,” he said.
“Whatever happened at Manchester City, Pep Guardiola is the best manager in the world and that is very important.
Ferguson was pictured on Saturday watching Chelsea women be crowned WSL champions for the fifth time at Old Trafford.
Virgil van Dijk (photo front) led the speeches for the outgoing manager on Thursday
Klopp admitted his departure from Liverpool will be a ‘long break’ away from football
‘If you put another manager in that club, they can’t win the league four times in a row. That’s up to him and his boys.
“Does this mean they can do whatever they want? No. But I don’t know what they did – if they did anything – and I’m not here to say they did. We shall see.’
Klopp’s final sabbatical after leaving Borussia Dortmund in 2015 lasted just five months before he came to Merseyside to take over the Liverpool job. But he says this time it will be different. “This will be a long break, 100 percent,” he confirmed.
‘Maybe it is. My time in England is definitely over as I will not be coaching another team here. It means that a big part of my life is now over.’
