Julian Nagelsmann will be free to join Liverpool in the summer should they target him as Jurgen Klopp’s successor, but whether he suits the Reds is another matter.
That’s according to Sky Sports Germany, who cover the manager today after Klopp’s surprise announcement yesterday.
The German coach is set to depart Liverpool at the end of the season, admitting he had grown tired and needed a period out of the game.
That has immediately sparked speculation on who will replace him, with Xabi Alonso seemingly at the top of the list but a whole host of other names also likely to be in the running.
Thus, unlike Alonso or Roberto de Zerbi, who are the two examples used, he ‘would definitely not cost a transfer fee’ should Liverpool look to hire him.
A move to Anfield would be a first step abroad for Nagelsmann after his time in club football in Germany, which has arguably been a mixed bag.
They say hiring him could come with a certain risk because his ‘often courageous’ formation, in which centre-backs and playing through the middle is key, would be a distinct change to what Liverpool have become accustomed to.
Nagelsmann doesn’t ‘play against the ball as intensively as Klopp’ so it would be a major change, but he has often made ‘courageous’ decisions in his career and accepting an offer to move to Anfield could be another of them.