Liverpool will bid farewell to Jürgen Klopp on Sunday after nine incredible years at the helm. The Reds will host Wolves at Anfield, with the club’s FSG owners making a special gesture to the departing German.
Klopp has been inundated with messages of thanks from Liverpool fans with a host of current and former players also paying tribute. He will leave a remarkable legacy at Anfield and Steven Gerrard has even called for a lasting tribute to be put in place.
That doesn’t appear to be on the cards right now but the club’s owners have made special plans to ensure they will also be present for Sunday’s special occasion.
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According to The Athletic’s James Pearce, owners John Henry and Tom Werner plan to fly in to Liverpool for the match. The pair actually attended Klopp’s first home game in 2015, against Rubin Kazan in the Europa League.
Over Klopp’s tenure, trips to the UK for Liverpool matches have been somewhat rare for the FSG chiefs and Henry in particular. Werner has been present at Anfield for recent defeats to Atalanta and Crystal Palace but Henry hasn’t been pictured in the stands since the opening day clash with Chelsea.
But the decision to attend Sunday’s finale is the least the pair could do. Klopp has taken Liverpool from a side battling for the European places to winning the Champions League and Premier League. Even FSG won’t have predicted the success, and longevity, of Klopp’s tenure when he was appointed as Brendan Rodgers’ successor.
Let’s not forget, Klopp often had to act as the middle man between fans and the club’s owners. Back in 2016, around 10,000 supporters staged a walkout during a match with Sunderland amid plans to hike ticket prices.
It was a sliding doors moment for FSG’s ownership but Liverpool supporters also staged a protest against Atalanta in the Europa League over an increase in the cost of season tickets. Klopp again sympathized with both parties, saying: “I understand the concerns. It’s a tricky one from my point of view.
“We are a self-sustaining club. As long as I’m here we can tell everybody, each pound we earned went directly back into football. There’s a lot of good things the club’s doing but I understand where the fans are coming from.”
His decision to leave the club led to many, including former defender Jose Enrique, suggesting that he had not been given enough support by FSG. But the German once again defended his bosses, insisting: “We built two stands that will stay forever. We built this AXA training ground that will stay for the next 30, 40, or 50 years. We did it all the Liverpool way, which I love.
“That we didn’t win the league with 97 points or the Champions League is fine. You could say we should have spent more money on a player, I understand that’s a fan view but that can never be a professional view. If you want to blame someone for not winning the Champions League three times then you can blame me, nobody else.”
FSG will hope that its next managerial appointment goes as well as its last, with Arne Slot close to being confirmed as Klopp’s successor. Henry and Werner will rightly be among those in the stands on Sunday, honoring the German for a job superbly done.