Liverpool fans might want to revisit Pep Lijnders’ farewell interview from May 2024 because recent developments have taken a surprising twist.
At the time, the long-time assistant to Jurgen Klopp said: “Yeah, 10 years of the club and my boys don’t know anything else, they are Scousers. I owe this club everything.
“They don’t owe me anything, to be honest. It’s 10 years full of dedication. I always said I will finish with Jürgen; the moment I will not assist anyone else, that’s the moment I will go and I will manage. That was always the case.
“So when we spoke, it was clear for me: OK, then I go and manage, and we end this project together [that] we started. But yeah, it’s not easy.
“My boys, my wife; my boys are two proper Scousers and their whole life they will be. Maybe posh ones! But still!
“I cannot say thank you enough to everybody involved. I’m grateful. Mike [Gordon] and myself had a good talk later, I’m really grateful for that and that makes me [feel] as well that I can leave the club consciously.”
He spoke emotionally about leaving the club and clearly stated his ambition to become a head coach, which seemed confirmed by his appointment at Red Bull Salzburg.
However, just a year later, Lijnders is reportedly set to join Manchester City as one of Pep Guardiola’s assistants – a move that contradicts his earlier plans and places him with one of Liverpool’s biggest rivals.
For some Reds fans, it feels like a sharp U-turn from the man who once called Anfield home.