With Roberto De Zerbi touted as a possible successor to Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool manager, the German’s advice to his counterpart at Anfield was interesting.
Though Sporting CP manager Ruben Amorim is considered the favourite to take over at Anfield this summer, De Zerbi appears firmly in the mix.
The Brighton boss is the other name frequently mentioned alongside Amorim, with Xabi Alonso now ruled out after committing to stay with Bayer Leverkusen.
Alonso’s revelation was timely given the clash between Liverpool and Brighton on Sunday, which ended with Klopp’s first win over De Zerbi after five attempts.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live after the 2-1 win, Klopp revealed what he told De Zerbi in the tunnel during a warm embrace.
“I told De Zerbi to keep turning the football world upside down,” he explained.
“I will watch it from some distance. I respect so much what he’s doing.
“It is incredible what he has done. Brighton have lost Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo, they have lots of injuries, but he puts a team like that together.
“An incredible job.”
In his post-match interview with LFCTV, Klopp continued: “Ripping Mac Allister out of this team, with all respect – not only him, Chelsea took Caicedo – that was the engine room of this team.
“They now have other players there and they do really well. The third one, Billy Gilmour, is badly injured.
“Knowing all that, what a heck of a job he’s doing. It’s really insane.”
Klopp will not play a part in Liverpool’s recruitment process when it comes to the next manager, with Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes now in charge.
But if the 56-year-old was asked for a recommendation, he would likely give his backing to De Zerbi given the admiration he has for his work at Brighton.
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