Pep Lijnders has revealed that former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp encouraged him to take up the role of assistant coach to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.
The 43-year-old joined City at the beginning of the season, replacing Juanma Lillo, after leaving Liverpool at the end of the 2023-24 season when Klopp stepped down. Lijnders had spent almost a decade at Anfield, initially arriving as a development coach in 2014 before becoming Klopp’s long-time assistant during a period in which Liverpool won the Premier League and Champions League.
Despite the intense rivalry between Liverpool and City in recent seasons, Lijnders said Klopp was fully supportive when the opportunity arose. He recalled that Klopp joked he would take the job himself if Lijnders turned it down.
Lijnders admitted the decision was not taken lightly given his long association with Liverpool, but said the chance to work with Guardiola was too significant to ignore.
“The moment Pep called, and the feeling he gave me about what he wanted to do with the team by bringing me in, the trust he already had before we discussed how it would look, that made the decision much easier,” Lijnders said.
“But you cannot put away 10 years of Liverpool that easily. But I’m really proud to come to a club of this magnitude, so successful over the last 10 years and with a manager that defined football. When I spoke with Jürgen he was so clear: ‘If you don’t do it, I will take the assistant job.'”
Asked about the experience of working under Guardiola, Lijnders said: “Intense. He’s brilliant, of course. He has a passion and a game understanding from a different planet in my opinion.
He knows exactly what he wants and the good ones and the top ones, what sets them apart is their love, in my opinion, for his team.
You always have people who are geniuses in terms of how to prepare a team, but the quality lies in how you touch the heart of the players, how you convince them to play in a certain way. That is something that didn’t surprise me of course because I knew, but (it is) what I really like about Pep.”
Next Sunday Lijnders returns to Anfield for the first time since leaving in 2024. “It will be special, maybe more special for my family than me,” he said. “But my mindset is to win and to try to beat them.”
Manchester City are currently second in the Premier League, seven points behind leaders Arsenal. They face Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday before hosting Liverpool at Anfield next weekend.
