Jurgen Klopp to Liverpool: Former Dortmund boss could take charge before this weekend

Jürgen Klopp will become Liverpool’s new manager by the weekend after an agreement was made on how the club conducts its transfer business.

Discussions between Anfield officials and the 48-year-old are at an advanced stage after meetings held yesterday close to Liverpool's London offices in Bloomsbury.

Klopp, who takes much of the credit for Borussia Dortmund’s transformation from Bundesliga relegation fodder to two-time champions, worked closely in Germany with chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke as well as sporting director Michael Zorc on the issue of recruitment and was understood to be seeking clarity on who would have the final say at Liverpool.

Klopp formed a close bond with Zorc particularly – a former player at Dortmund – and it is possible that someone of a similar stature will the same role at Liverpool, a role that would bridge the gap between the boardroom and management. It is thought that such a move would not render irrelevant the club's much criticised transfer committee.

Last week, it was suggested in the German media that Klopp was being considered by Bayern Munich as a potential replacement for Pep Guardiola should he choose to leave Bavaria next summer.

Since, contract negotiations have begun between Bayern and the Catalan and although both Manchester clubs in England would like to appoint him in the future, it now seems as though he will remain in Germany for at least another 18 months.

Klopp would not be willing to wait for so long and now his thoughts are with Liverpool, a job that attracts him not only because of the club’s history but also because of the enormity of task – one that will be as testing as when he started out at Dortmund in the summer of 2008.

Yesterday, Stefan Effenberg, the former German international – a friend of Klopp’s – suggested a deal with Liverpool is close.

“When you come to a team and everything is 100-per cent it’s not a challenge for a coach,” he said. “This would be a challenge for Jürgen Klopp: to build a new team and to create something new. His personality is strong and I think he will be a coach again very soon. I can’t tell [what will happen publically]. But I know something. This could be Liverpool.”