Football
ESPN staff 10y

Jurgen Klopp focused on Dortmund but open to future job in England

Jurgen Klopp has expressed an interest in working in the Premier League at some stage in his career but insists he has no intention of leaving Borussia Dortmund in the foreseeable future.

- Buczko: Kagawa's dream debut delights BVB

Klopp, 47, is one of the most highly sought after coaches in Europe after an impressive stint with Dortmund, winning two Bundesliga titles and leading the club to a place in the 2013 Champions League final.

He has been linked with a number of top jobs in England and Spain in the past but, while he would consider moving abroad at some stage, the former Mainz coach is fully focused on matters at the Westfalenstadion at this stage.

"Of course one day I'd perhaps like to work in England, but that doesn't mean I think about it," he is quoted as telling The Sun. "I think about solving Borussia's problems. I don't think about my future."

Klopp last won the Bundesliga in 2012 and has had to cope with the loss of several key players, with both Mario Gotze and Robert Lewandowski now having moved on to current German champions Bayern Munich.

There has also been speculation about Marco Reus and Mats Hummels' futures but Klopp, who is under contract until 2018, said the frustration of losing star players will not lead him to walk away.

"It's not frustrating. It's a normal situation. It's my challenge. But I don't think about this," he said. "This player goes and that player goes. No matter. That doesn't decide whether I stay in Dortmund or not. I have to feel I am the perfect coach for this team. As long as I feel like this, there's no way out. I stay. If they let me."

This summer, Dortmund were able to bring back one of the most important players in the BVB side that won back-to-back Bundesliga titles as Shinji Kagawa ended his disappointing spell with Manchester United.

Kagawa showed signs of promise during his debut season under Sir Alex Ferguson but was unable to realise his potential under David Moyes, and Louis van Gaal ultimately allowed the midfielder to move on.

Klopp said he had met Ferguson at a UEFA coaching forum and Nyon and revealed the Scot is "still in love with Shinji."

"He told me, 'Shame we didn't manage this well so that it worked out for him. We were satisfied in the first year,'" he added. "And in the second year you usually make the next step but he didn't manage to do it, but Sir Alex was saying: 'Shame -- we should have made this work'."

Kagawa excelled on his return to action for Dortmund, scoring and providing an assist in a 3-1 victory over Freiburg, and Klopp said the Japan international could compensate for the loss of Reus to injury ahead of next week's Champions League meeting with Arsenal.

"It's an unbelievable blow to lose Marco ahead of Arsenal," he said. "It was a heart attack but then I thought: 'OK, I have Shinji.' On his first day back, we saw 'Shinji,' second day 'Shinji,' third day 'Shinji.'

"He has all his skills still. I think he has no problem with self-confidence. We spoke about it and he's OK. He played more matches than everybody thinks. Not full 90 minutes but he had about 50 matches. It's not perfect but it's not nothing."

Klopp added on BVB's official website after Kagawa's return to action: "It was good, it was actually very good for a first game. He had a lot to deal with in the last couple of days, and I think he dealt very well with it and put in a good performance. He got a cramp today which is a good sign. Shinji already was an influential figure, and that's really cool."

Kagawa, meanwhile, was thrilled with his second debut, saying: "The fans gave me a warm and fantastic reception before kick-off. That's why I really wanted to win this game today, and I'm happy that it worked out. I had goosebumps for the entire match. We have a deep squad with a lot of quality. If we work really well together, we can be a force."

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