With just a few weeks to go until the end of the season, Liverpool still don’t know who will be managing them next year.
The Reds have known for quite some time that they’d need to replace Jurgen Klopp over the summer. However, with plenty of due diligence being done, nothing appears imminent.
In the months since Klopp’s shock announcement in January, a number of top contenders have been put forward. After Xabi Alonso removed himself from the running, Sporting boss Ruben Amorim seemingly became the new front-runner.
A spanner was then put in the works on Monday though, with the Portuguese press reporting that Amorim had jetted to England for talks with West Ham, not Liverpool.
With claims from The Athletic that the 39-year-old is now ‘unlikely’ to take over at Anfield, Reds fans have a lot of questions. Thankfully, journalist Fabrizio Romano has stepped in to try and answer some of those on Tuesday morning.
What has Fabrizio Romano said on Tuesday morning
Over the past few weeks, it has been reported more than once that Liverpool may in fact do something ‘brave’ in terms of their next manager.
Although Amorim has felt like the most likely candidate, the suggestion had been that nothing was yet done.
Nevertheless, the Sporting boss really did look like the best option out there. According to Romano in his Daily Briefing today though, the Reds are still ‘discussing internally’ about which direction to go in. It seems that things are not completely lost with Amorim.
“There’s been something of a surprise twist to the Ruben Amorim saga, as reported yesterday, with West Ham now emerging as an option for the Sporting Lisbon manager, despite all the recent stories about his future involving Liverpool,” says the reporter.
“What I can say is that at the moment it’s on stand-by between Liverpool and Amorim. Liverpool are still discussing internally, so we have to be patient and respect their timing.
“But Amorim never had an agreement done and sealed with Liverpool despite reports, that’s why everything is still open for the Portuguese manager.”
Who could Liverpool hire instead
By the sounds of things, Amorim is not completely off the table for Liverpool. However, it does seem as though others have now jumped ahead of him in FSG’s thinking.
Quite who that could be is anyone’s guess. After Julian Nagelsmann committed his future to Germany and Roberto De Zerbi was all-but ruled out earlier this month, Thiago Motta has been the man most mentioned.
But Motta feels likely to be heading to Juventus. The 41-year-old is undoubtedly a brilliant coach, but would he fit at Liverpool?
For now, all we can do is wait. No doubt it will be a busy few weeks for Romano and co as the Reds finally move towards a final decision. We await further updates.