The bombshell news that all Liverpool fans feared dropped prematurely on Friday morning, as Jurgen Klopp - one of the Reds' most successful and respected managers of all time - announced that he would be vacating his Anfield post at the end of the season.
The 56-year-old - who only signed a new contract with the Reds until 2026 towards the end of the 2021-22 season - addressed the Liverpool faithful two months after informing the "hugely saddened" owners of his decision, which stems from Klopp losing the "energy" to continue in such a demanding role.
What lies in store next for Klopp not even he knows, but the Premier League and Champions League-winning head coach has insisted that the last thing he wants right now is tributes or sympathy, as Liverpool enter the spring months still fighting for a quartet of top honours.
While the former Borussia Dortmund boss only has on-field matters on his mind, the powers-that-be now commence their search for the next soul to step into Klopp's seemingly impossible-to-fill boots, but a few candidates - some with extensive CVs and others with more humble resumes - already stand out head and shoulders above their coaching counterparts.
With that in mind, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at five realistic contenders to succeed Klopp at Liverpool for the 2024-25 campaign and beyond.
Xabi Alonso
The first name on Liverpool fans' lips even before Klopp called time on his mesmerising Anfield spell, Xabi Alonso - a dynamic midfielder with a spectacular long-range goal in him during his playing heyday at Anfield - has already risen to prominence as a head coach on account of the transformation of Bayer Leverkusen.
After entering the unforgiving world of management with jobs in the academies of Real Madrid and Real Sociedad, Alonso signed on the dotted line for the first time as a senior head coach in October 2022, moving into the BayArena offices and reaching the semi-finals of the Europa League in his first campaign in charge.
Implementing a fearsome 3-4-2-1 system with a Klopp-esque counter-pressing style, Alonso has masterminded a start to the 2023-24 Bundesliga season beyond any Leverkusen fan's wildest expectations; at the 18-game mark, his side are four points clear of hitherto eternal champions Bayern Munich at the top of the table.
Averaging nearly three goals a game while conceding a league-low 14 in the top flight so far, Leverkusen are being run as an incredibly tight ship under the 42-year-old Alonso, whose contract with the German title-chasers runs until 2026.
The erstwhile Liverpool midfielder has already reaffirmed his commitment to Leverkusen since Klopp's announcement, although one suspects that the opportunity to emulate one of the Reds' all-time great managers will be too enticing to pass up for the Spaniard, who could very well bring a couple of the Black and Reds' standout players to Anfield with him.
Julian Nagelsmann
Throughout the last knockings of his Liverpool career, Klopp has kept the German Football Association at arm's length amid their failed attempts to lure him into the world of international management, thus forcing the DFB to consider other alternatives to the doomed Hansi Flick.
On the back of his striking sacking from Bayern Munich, the fresh-faced Julian Nagelsmann was bestowed with the key to the Frankfurt offices, having already earned his Bundesliga stars with Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig before at least delivering the customary Bundesliga title to Bayern.
Another advocate for winning the ball as high up the pitch as possible and launching quick attacks to devastating effect, Nagelsmann is yet to see his methods pay dividends for the national team, who have won just one of their opening four games under his wing and lost back-to-back friendlies with Austria and Turkey in November.
The 36-year-old's contract with the DFB only runs until the end of Euro 2024, and a career change could be on the cards this summer should he oversee another chastening major tournament campaign at Germany's home Euros; Flick and the celebrated Joachim Low both departed after underwhelming results on the global stage.
Of course, Nagelsmann arriving at Anfield could form one part of a managerial 'swap' deal of sorts, as Germany are sure to rekindle their pursuit of Klopp should the former be relieved of his duties, although the current Liverpool coach is in no hurry to decide his post-Anfield future.
Pep Lijnders
Alongside Klopp's melancholic exit, Liverpool have confirmed that the German's right-hand man - Pep Lijnders - will also leave his role as assistant head coach in order to embark on his own managerial career, having served on the coaching team on Merseyside for nearly a decade now.
A former youth team manager before assuming lieutenant duties under Brendan Rodgers, Lijnders has continued to observe and offer opinions to Klopp and can also proudly claim to be a Premier League and Champions League-winning coach, albeit in the absence of the adulation Klopp and his players have basked in.
Still only 41 years of age, the Dutchman has a possible 30+-year spell in top-level management ahead of him and briefly dropped his Liverpool duties to take charge of NEC Nijmegen for the second half of the 2017-18 season, where he achieved 11 wins from 22 games in charge before flying back to England.
While barking orders from the touchline in the Dutch second tier, Lijnders unsurprisingly ripped a page from the Klopp playbook by deploying a 4-3-3 system, and speaking of books, the soon-to-be former assistant published a 432-page account of Liverpool's 2021-22 campaign, in which the Reds came so close yet so far to quadruple stardom.
Whether Lijnders's 'exit' from Liverpool is indeed a farewell or simply setting the Dutchman up to step into his boss' shoes remains to be seen, but should the latter scenario come about, Reds fans would do well to forget about how well Tottenham Hotspur fared when Cristian Stellini replaced Antonio Conte last season.
Zinedine Zidane
A forgotten man in the world of top-level management, three-time Champions League winner Zinedine Zidane - who has engaged in many a fascinating touchline battle with Klopp - is approaching the three-year mark without a head coach's job since his second exit from Real Madrid.
The 51-year-old - who has only ever taken charge of teams donning the famous white strip - left his Real post for the second time at the end of the 2020-21 season, and in spite of numerous links with various European titans, he remains on the managerial market.
Paris Saint-Germain have apparently been trying their utmost to tempt Zidane back into the game, only to be rebuffed due to the Frenchman's desire to take charge of his national team, but Didier Deschamps's recent contract extension until 2026 has put paid to that idea for the time being.
That is not to say that Deschamps's position will not come under threat if France also crash and burn at the European Championships, but Zidane is also said to have rejected the chance to become the USA's new head coach as he waits for Deschamps to vacate the Bleus post, which may not be until after the next World Cup.
Given Zidane's exceptional European pedigree and emphasis on an attacking 4-3-3 shape during his first Real stint, Liverpool could do worse than to try their luck with the 51-year-old, but he should not be the first name on the owners' managerial shortlist.
Thomas Tuchel
One of the first coaches to express his long-standing admiration for Klopp once his compatriot's departure became public, Bayern Munich head coach Thomas Tuchel - whom Klopp previously labelled an "outstanding" manager - conceded that the extraordinary news would take a while for him to "digest".
A close associate of his Dortmund predecessor, Tuchel remains in the thick of his duties with Bayern Munich, although the former Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain head coach is now reported to be at serious risk of an imminent exit from Bavaria.
The Bundesliga title is already Leverkusen's to lose, and a report from Bild states how both Bayern CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen and honorary president Uli Hoeness harbour doubts over whether Tuchel - whose deal runs out in 2025 - is the right man for a long-term project, having witnessed a dampening 1-0 loss to Werder Bremen just last Sunday.
Tuchel's tactical nous is certainly not up for any debate, and if the 50-year-old's services are indeed up for grabs this summer, it would not be impossible to believe that Klopp put in a good word for his fellow German to the Liverpool board.
However, allegations of Tuchel falling out with players - as well as Chelsea owner Todd Boehly apparently labelling him a "nightmare" - may tempt Liverpool away from hiring the current Bayern boss, having seen Klopp instil a sense of harmony within the Anfield walls since day one.
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