Jurgen Klopp often made his feelings clear on Chelsea's lavish transfer spending

Jurgen Klopp previously commented on Chelsea's lavish spending in the transfer market, at one stage joking he did not feel comfortable speaking about it without a lawyer

Jurgen Klopp previously said he would need his lawyer to speak about Chelsea's transfer activity(Image: Getty Images)

Jurgen Klopp's agent's claim that Manchester United and Chelsea were interested in hiring him following his Liverpool exit two years ago has come as a surprise to many people.

The German departed Anfield in 2024, having restored Liverpool's reputation as one of the best teams in the world, and now works for Red Bull as its Head of Global Soccer. Klopp said last year that he had no immediate intention of returning to the dugout after a managerial career that began all the way back in 2001.

The claim that Chelsea inquired about potentially appointing Klopp is an interesting one, particularly considering the way in which Klopp spoke about Chelsea during his time as Liverpool boss.

In September 2020, as Klopp addressed Liverpool's lack of signings during the summer transfer window compared with Chelsea, which had spent over $250 million at the time, he spoke about the differences between how the two clubs operated in the transfer market.

"Clubs are in different situations, and we are living in uncertainty in the world," Klopp said amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

"For some clubs, it seems to be less important how uncertain the future is because they are owned by countries, owned by oligarchs, and that is the truth. We are a different kind of club.

"We reached the Champions League final two years ago, won it the following year, and won the Premier League by being the club we are. We cannot change that overnight and say, 'Now we want to behave like Chelsea.'

Chelsea owner Todd Boehly has splashed the cash(Image: Getty Images)

"We always want to improve the squad, but there are different ways - one way is to sign new players and the other way is to work together, improve the things you were good in, and try to nullify the things you are not good in. That is football. No one wants to talk about training and only about signings."

Three years later, when Todd Boehly replaced Roman Abramovich as the Chelsea owner – seemingly spending even more freely than his predecessor – Klopp joked that it wouldn't be wise to speak about Chelsea's transfer activity without legal counsel.

"I say nothing without my lawyer! No, I'm joking," Klopp said. "I don't understand this part of the business, like what you can do and what you cannot do. They are all really good players, so from that point of view, congratulations. I don't understand how it's possible, but it's obviously not for me to explain how it works."

Bringing things back to the present day and Klopp's agent, Marc Kosicke, claimed in a new interview with Transfermarkt that Klopp had turned down approaches from Chelsea and Manchester United two years ago.

"Even Chelsea and Manchester United inquired, although Jurgen had clearly stated that he would not coach any other club in England. These inquiries haven't stopped," Kosicke said.

"Jurgen has undergone a metamorphosis, moving away from being a coach with a broad perspective towards more management responsibilities."

The Press Association reports that Chelsea and United both strongly denied Kosicke's suggestion that they were keen to appoint Klopp upon his exit from Liverpool.