Former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp is behind the scenes! Pep Lijnders switches sides to become Pep Guardiola's assistant at Manchester City.
On 2 Feb 2026 GMT+7, Pep Lijnders revealed a hilarious conversation between him and Jürgen Klopp. He admitted that the former Liverpool manager jokingly said that if Lijnders did not accept the assistant manager role at Manchester City, Klopp himself would take the job.
Lijnders worked with Klopp at Liverpool for many years and left the club alongside Klopp in 2024. Afterwards, he took the managerial position at Red Bull Salzburg but was dismissed later that year due to underperformance before deciding to join Pep Guardiola in summer 2025.
Pep Lijnders explained that in summer 2025, he received an offer to become assistant manager at Manchester City, which meant working with Guardiola. However, because of the strong rivalry between City and Liverpool, he hesitated and sought advice from Klopp.
When asked if the decision was difficult, Lijnders replied, “Do you want an official answer? Of course it wasn’t hard. When Pep called me and explained how he wanted me to assist the team, plus the trust we had even before discussing details, it made the decision much easier.”
“But you can’t easily forget 10 years at Liverpool. I’m very proud to have worked with such a successful club for a decade and with a manager who transformed football. When I spoke with Jürgen, he was very clear: ‘If you don’t take it, I’ll be the assistant myself!’”
“When I return to Anfield next week, it will be very special—probably more so for my family than for me. But my goal is to win and to try to beat them.”
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