Jurgen Klopp may have inadvertently endorsed the appointment of Mauricio Pochettino at Chelsea by heaping praise on the 51-year-old's former club. The Blues have been heavily linked with plenty of candidates for the vacant position at Stamford Bridge, and a clear front-runner has finally emerged.
The Blues have held 'very positive talks' with Pochettino, football.london understands, as Todd Boehly hopes to appoint a permanent head coach at the end of the season despite current pressure on Frank Lampard. While the west Londoners are yet reach an agreement with the Argentinean, there is confidence among both parties that a deal can be struck.
Pochettino does not have an agent so he's been representing himself in talks with senior figures at Chelsea, with negotiations progressing well thus far. If there was any doubt – for whatever reason – that Boehly wanted to pull the plug on proceedings, Klopp's flattering endorsement of his work further explains why he's regarded by many as a world-class manager.
READ MORE: Mauricio Pochettino to Chelsea latest as huge update emerges over former Tottenham boss
Ahead of Liverpool's clash against Tottenham on Sunday afternoon, the Reds boss insisted that Spurs are still just as good as when the two sides met in the 2019 Champions League final. Pochettino and Klopp locked horns in Madrid, but Liverpool waltzed away victorious thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah and Divock Origi.
"This is a season where a lot of things were difficult for a lot of teams," the German said, in Friday's news conference, as quoted by the Mirror. "It's not a cool for us, but it opens the door for other teams. Little mistakes during a season can have a big impact.
"The team they (Tottenham) have is still exceptional. Why it didn't work out for them, I have no idea. They were for years the best counter-attacking team in Europe. I expect them to be really good."
Despite the excitement around Pochettino's potential arrival at Cobham, Jamie O'Hara believes that the appointment will not go as planned. Speaking on talkSPORT, the former Spurs midfielder said: "Don’t even get me started. You’ve got Pochettino coming in. That’s not going to work.
"It’s not going to work. It won’t work. He was made for Tottenham. There’s unfinished business. The only reason he’s not going back there is because Daniel Levy is an idiot, and he doesn’t want to go back on old ground because they fell out when he left."
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