Gary Lineker lets slip 'little rumor' about Jürgen Klopp's next job after Liverpool exit

Liverpool is looking ahead to a future with Arne Slot. But there will be more than a few eyes on what Jürgen Klopp does next too, and Gary Lineker has revealed what he has been hearing.

Klopp himself has made certain things crystal clear. He has pledged never to manage another Premier League club, and insisted he will take a break of a year before considering a managerial role of any kind.

The retirement option is also one that Klopp has left open. But names including Pep Guardiola have expressed confidence that the departing Liverpool manager will return to the sport.

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And Lineker has heard that Klopp could be lining up a comeback in a different capacity. Speaking on The Rest Is Football, he revealed that there have been whispers of a new role back at Borussia Dortmund.

“You can see why that job is so demanding," Lineker said of the managerial role at Liverpool, sympathizing with Klopp's decision to take a break. "There will be a battle for him in a year’s time.

"Or they’ll be lining up [now] for a year or so’s time. I heard a little rumor that he might end up being president of Borussia Dortmund, which would be amazing.”

Liverpool will hope that Borussia Dortmund is not a universal case study for life after Klopp. It has spent more or less the entire time since his departure striving and failing to hit those same heights — although it has conjured up an unlikely place in this season's Champions League final.

There's little doubt that Borussia Dortmund would welcome any kind of Klopp return with open arms. But the role of president would be a completely new one for the German, who has spent the last two decades as a coach — and the 15 years before that as a player.

Liverpool.com says: Taking up some kind of role at one of his former clubs does seem like a viable avenue for Klopp. While he might be reluctant to in any way alter his legacy, it's also hard to pinpoint which entirely new teams would hold particular appeal.

Just as Klopp has sworn off the Premier League, it's hard to see him joining another Bundesliga outfit. Would teams in Italy or France really boast the stature to attract him these days? If not, that only really leaves La Liga, and neither Real Madrid nor Barcelona are the ideal gigs for a manager seeking a slightly quieter life.

Perhaps Klopp will crave that cut-and-thrust again. But more of a background role at Borussia Dortmund would seem like a fitting route back into the sport for him, and one in which all Liverpool fans would wish him well.