‘This is only the start’: Jurgen Klopp excited by four more years of Liverpool journey

Jurgen Klopp described Liverpool as the “perfect place to be” after signing a four-year contract and described this as just the start of things for them and his quadruple-chasing team.

The German is the longest-serving manager in the Premier League and put pen to paper on a four-year deal on Thursday, ensuring he will spend longer in charge of Liverpool than anyone since Bill Shankly.

Klopp urged Liverpool to seize the opportunities in front of them and create special memories they will remember in generations to come.

“This is only the start, that is the plan, that we really go for it,” he said. “There are no guarantees in our situation, our sport. It’s why we have to enjoy the journey. The journey so far is a great one but we don’t know if we will win anything.

“We want to offer emotion and that’s obviously possible with the people who support us. We want to deliver excitement, we want to deliver that you really can buy in to. We want to be together with our people, we want to really be connected and want to be special as well as a club. We all sit here now and in 20 years’ time we will look back and for all of us it’s about creating stories which we will remember easily and think ‘wow, that was good’.”

Liverpool have a host of players, including Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Naby Keita, who are out of contract in 2023 and Klopp believes that, whether or not certainty about his future persuades anyone to stay, it will help them in the transfer market.

“It is a really good place to be or join, if not the perfect place,” he said. “It is important a lot of people know early. It is good for transfer windows. We cannot guarantee success but we can guarantee stability and in these difficult times, that is a big thing.

“If it is a positive sign for the boys great. My relationship with them is great. But I don’t think this will be the one decisive thing for a decision they make for their lives but we just want to make sure that everyone who wants to know knows what he can expect.

Klopp’s wife, Ulla, helped persuade him to stay and he said Merseyside has become home for him.

“It is all good, we are all in a very positive mood as a family,” he explained. “It is a great decision for us. We all love being here and want to help as much as we can that the club is as successful for as long as possible. The success will not be forever but over the last few years this became home for us: the area, the club.”

Klopp has shown a renewed enthusiasm this season and said lockdown has made him more grateful for life at Liverpool.

He explained: “The last two years were really hard for all of us because corona dominated our lives and then the other guy [Russia president Vladimir Putin] put us all in trouble. In these moments we learn again and have to cherish and appreciate what we can achieve when we are all together and what we want to have for longer.”