It has been reported that Jurgen Klopp would want two Real Madrid players to depart should he take over as the club’s next manager.
Real dismissed former midfielder Xabi Alonso earlier this month, less than eight months into his spell in charge.
He was swiftly succeeded by another ex–Los Blancos player, Alvaro Arbeloa, who had previously been in charge of Real’s Castilla side.
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Arbeloa’s reign began in disastrous fashion, with Real crashing out of the Copa del Rey in the third round to second-division outfit Albacete. ..[read more]
However, Los Blancos responded by securing a 2-0 La Liga victory over Levante, followed by an emphatic 6-1 Champions League win against Monaco at the Bernabeu.
There has been little clarity surrounding the specifics of Arbeloa’s appointment, including the length of his contract, with Real merely announcing him as the new head coach when Alonso departed.
This lack of detail has fuelled speculation that the Spaniard could himself be replaced once the season comes to an end.
According to Diario AS, the name of former Liverpool manager Klopp was raised by Real executives earlier this month, although any move to appoint him is said to be ‘on hold’.
Klopp currently serves as Red Bull’s global head of football and, when quizzed about the Real links by The Athletic, admitted he was ‘partly amused and partly exasperated.
“I know I can coach a football team, but that doesn’t mean I have to do it until my last day … I don’t want to be somewhere else,” he said.
Despite that, Madrid-based outlet Defensa Central claim that if Real were to approach Klopp and he chose to accept the role, he would look to offload two members of the squad.
It is suggested that full-backs Daniel Carvajal and Ferland Mendy would be the first names moved on as part of Klopp’s planned overhaul.
Carvajal is battling for the right-back position with Trent Alexander-Arnold, a player Klopp helped mould into one of the best attacking full-backs in the world during his time at Liverpool.
The veteran returned from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury last year and, now 34, is approaching the end of his contract, which expires this summer.
Mendy, meanwhile, has endured persistent muscle issues during his spell in Spain, problems that have been particularly limiting this season, restricting him to just two minutes of La Liga football and one Champions League appearance.
The 30-year-old French left-back picked up a calf injury — his fourth in the space of 12 months — earlier in January and is currently sidelined as a result.
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