Jurgen Klopp once described the Liverpool manager's job as the most difficult in football. Appointed as the manager of the Merseyside club on October 8, 2015, he will soon find out how true this observation is.
The German arrives at Liverpool with an impeccable pedigree, two Bundesliga titles from his seven year tenure with Borussia Dortmund. A one club player at Mainz 05, he made his managerial debut with the same club, leading them to the Bundesliga for the first time in their history, and a place in the 2005/6 UEFA Cup. His success at Mainz 05 brought the 48 year-old to the attention of Dortmund and he was soon moving north.
Said to have earned around £5.3 million a year with BVB, Klopp now stands to double that return with an estimated £10 million per annum including sponsorship at his new club.
The £7 million basic salary will make Klopp the third highest paid manager in the Premier League. Only Jose Mourinho, said to earn £8.32 million at Roman Abaramovich's Chelsea – likely to make around £13 million a season with endorsements – and Arsene Wenger, who pockets a mouth-watering £8 million at Arsenal, will secure more.
Louis Van Gaal at Manchester United also lifts £7 million per annum, and both Klopp and Van Gaal find themselves surprisingly ahead of Manchester City's Chilean supremo Manuel Pellegrini, whose wage packet only runs to £3.8 million.
Klopp's arrival has been met with renewed optimism around the pubs and clubs of Liverpool. There is a growing confidence that the German's appointment, in the wake of Brendan Rogers dismissal, will prove a turning point for the club.
These are early days for Klopp and his new charges, but there is no doubt that the Liverpool faithful have high expectations of their new boss.
Some fans have described it as 'a statement of intent' by the club. (Liverpool Echo, October 22, 2015).
Liverpool Football Club, of course, share the fan's optimism and are prepared to pay him nearly double the salary of his £3.6 million a year predecessor.
Rogers, himself, did come close to securing that elusive first Premier League title, a fact soon lost on the owners and fanbase given the subsequent slide that followed.
In 2013/14 Liverpool nearly won the Premier League, only losing out to Manchester City by two points after the 38 game season. It was the first time in the history of the league that both the champions and runners-up had scored over 100 goals.
Rogers and Liverpool, however, could not maintain that momentum. The loss of key players, Luis Suarez (To Barcelona), Steven Gerrard (Los Angeles Galaxy) and Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), plus a string of injuries (Daniel Sturridge, Darren Henderson) saw Liverpool slide down the table. This season's early form has proved poor by previous standards. A mid-table occupancy and increasing distance from a top four Champions League qualifying berth have caused the owners to move quickly in the early season.
Rogers soon discovered that second best was not good enough.
No doubt the professorial Klopp will ponder this as he wanders the gated communities of Formby ( a close suburb of Liverpool) looking for somewhere to live. Something made easier by the £7 million per annum salary it has taken to bring him to the English northwest.
