Newly-appointed Liverpool F.C. manager Jurgen Klopp has revealed he did not have talks with Bayern Munich about succeeding Pep Guardiola, whose current deal at the Allianz Arena is set to expire in the summer.
Klopp was introduced as the Reds’ replacement for Brendan Rodgers on Friday, less than a week after the Northern Irishman was sacked following a 1-1 result in the Merseyside derby.
The former Borussia Dortmund boss had been linked with the Bayern job, but has insisted negotiations never commenced regarding the potentially vacant position.
“No, actually I don’t know anything about that and this is not relevant to me,” Klopp told Sky Sports in Germany.
“Bayern is a fantastic club but I don’t go on holidays and wait for someone to call me. I have done many things that I found interesting and exciting and I have used the time to meet loads of great people and I would have met many more.
“I never had a certain career plan and I can assure that I never talked to Bayern Munich. I also hope that Guardiola will stay there for another 10 years.
“I didn’t want to train many clubs. Of course I had concrete offers but Liverpool is the only club I have actually spoken to.”
A week from today, Liverpool will travel to White Hart Lane to face Tottenham Hotspur in Klopp’s first game in charge of the club. The Reds are priced at 2/1 to win away, while the hosts–managed by Mauricio Pochettino–are backed at 6/4.
Cech: Chelsea still title favourites
Arsenal F.C. goalkeeper Petr Cech believes his former club Chelsea remain the favourite for the English Premier League title despite the Blues’ poor start to the 2015/16 campaign.
Chelsea (2-2-4) are currently in 16th-place in the EPL table, and only Sunderland–who are priced at 10/11 to finish bottom–have conceded more goals in the league (18) than Chelsea (17) through eight games this season.
But Cech still believes the Blues are the title favourites. However, the bookmakers beg to differ, backing Chelsea at 22/1–behind Manchester City (4/5), Arsenal (11/4), and Manchester United (8/1) respectively–to retain the league title.
“I’m surprised at their form because Chelsea are among the best in the Premier League,” the Czech Republic international told iDNES. “I’m not there anymore, so it is hard for me to evaluate what’s going on. But the season is long and Chelsea are still favorites in my eyes.”
That said, Cech is also backing the Gunners to make a strong push for the league title.
“After our first defeat against West Ham, everyone said that we can never win anything big. Now we’re being compared to the famous Arsenal who didn’t lose once during a season [in 2003-04],” added Cech.
“I know that we have a team that can fight for the title until the final round.”
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