Empire of the Kop
·14 January 2025
Empire of the Kop
·14 January 2025
Jurgen Klopp has jokingly said that he could host any celebrations among Liverpool fans if the Reds are awarded two additional Premier League titles.
LFC supporters have more reason than most to take an interest in the ongoing case involving Manchester City’s charges in relation to 115 alleged breaches of the top flight’s financial rules, the verdict of which is due to be announced in the spring.
If the Etihad Stadium club are found guilty, it remains to be seen what punishments will be administered, and whethere those might involve the revoking of the league titles they’ve won in recent years, two of which saw them pip the Reds by a single point.
On Tuesday, Klopp was officially was officially presented to the media as Red Bull’s new Head of Soccer and partook in a lengthy Q&A session, during which he voiced his desire for Mo Salah to sign a new contract at Liverpool.
The German was also asked how he’d feel if the Reds were to be awarded more Premier League titles, should they be taken off Man City and reassigned to the clubs who finished second in the relevant seasons.
The 57-year-old wryly answered (via Liverpool Echo): “Did you say few months or three? Ah okay, we’re getting closer. Should? I don’t say anything. Would? We had this discussion when we left. If it would happen I told all the people who want it, just book the flight and I buy the beer.
“Whatever we have to celebrate, good weather, we would have our own parade in my garden. God, what a headline! We will see. I didn’t follow it all. I’m surprised you’re telling me it’s two months away. Let’s see.”
(Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
In all probability, Liverpool won’t be awarded additional Premier League titles if Man City are found guilty, with that not mentioned among the list of punishments that the independent commission involved in the case could administer (Sky Sports).
Whilst that course of action would feel somewhat like a repatriation of justice, it could still seem hollow as it wouldn’t come with the same sense of jubilation and euphoria to accompany that moment of triumph with trophies which are won on the pitch.
That’s why it was so fulfilling to see Klopp’s Reds get the opportunity to win the league in 2020 by their own merits, rather than the season being cut short by the global pandemic and the title simply awarded to them as runaway leaders, albeit that social distancing restrictions deprived us of a mass public celebration.
Whether or not any of City’s trophies are revoked or reassigned should they be found guilty, such a verdict could offer a sense of satisfaction to Liverpool fans that the Manchester club can’t just bend the rules to their will without being punished severely.
There might also be a lingering anger that we were basically cheated out of two Premier League titles which the fans would’ve been able to celebrate every bit as grandly as the 2019 Champions League triumph.
Football supporters throughout England – not just those directly or indirectly impacted by the charges – will be waiting with bated breath for the verdict when it’s finally announced, which hopefully won’t be too much longer in coming.
A certain Jurgen Klopp might also be quite interested in the outcome…and might be ransacking his nearest off-licence, if he’s as good as his word!