Pep Guardiola has revealed he spoke to Jurgen Klopp before appointing Pep Lijnders as his new assistant at Manchester City.
Lijnders was one of Klopp’s most trusted staff members at Liverpool and played a big part in the Reds’ success under the German. So when news broke that he’d joined City this summer, fans were left stunned, especially with the two clubs being such fierce rivals in recent years.
The Dutchman will now replace Juanma Lillo on Guardiola’s coaching team and is expected to play a key role heading into the 2025/26 season.
But Guardiola wasn’t going to make the move without checking in with Klopp first.
Speaking ahead of City’s Club World Cup opener against Wydad, he said:
“We had a conversation with Jurgen, but not about Pep at first. Later I told him I was thinking about it, and he gave me his high opinion. I asked permission from Jurgen, of course, I didn’t want to interfere. I asked if it would be a problem, and he said absolutely not. After one or two days, we said yes.”
Guardiola also praised Lijnders’ football brain and said he’s already learning from him:
“His knowledge, I drink from his knowledge. We talk a lot about football and training. He’s inspiring.”
Lijnders initially joined Liverpool in 2014 under Brendan Rodgers but left in 2018 to manage NEC Nijmegen in the Dutch Eredivisie. After being sacked at the end of that season, he returned to Anfield in 2019 to become Klopp’s assistant following Zeljko Buvac’s departure.
The Dutchman then took over as manager of Red Bull Salzburg in May 2024 but left the Austrian club after just 29 games in charge, lasting only seven months.
