Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool Move Reportedly Imminent, Confident of Top-4 Finish

Liverpool could announce former Borussia Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp as their new manager as early as Thursday afternoon, and the German is reportedly confident he can guide the Reds to a Champions League place this season.

According to Sky Sports, Klopp is "expected to travel to Merseyside on Thursday morning and could be named the new Liverpool manager by the afternoon."

Further, the Mirror's David Maddock reported the 48-year-old is happy with the Reds' current squad and "believes he can steer the Reds toward a top-four challenge with just minor tweaks in the January transfer window."

Spanish football expert Guillem Balague noted the biggest potential obstacle to Liverpool getting their man—the opportunity to manage at Bayern Munich in the near future—is no longer on the table, giving Liverpool a clear run at the exciting coach:

Bundesliga expert Clark Whitney and football writer Liam Canning are two of the many people who believe Klopp would be an outstanding appointment for Liverpool:

That said, Whitney did offer a word of caution to Reds fans:

At BVB, Klopp won two consecutive league titles and the DFB-Pokal, and he guided them to the Champions League final in 2013.

Klopp did that while having several of his best players poached over the years, such as Robert Lewandowski, Mario Gotze and Shinji Kagawa, and as football journalist Raphael Honigstein demonstrated, he got excellent results despite the club being at a hefty disadvantage financially:

This will be of great help to the Merseyside outfit, whose single appearance in the Champions League in the last six years has left them struggling to match the financial muscle clubs such as Manchester United and Manchester City can boast.

His role in the development of great young talents such as Gotze, Marco Reus and Mats Hummels will also be vital, so there's an excellent chance he'll be able to get the best out of the Reds' promising younger players such as Danny Ings, Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino.

Importantly, Liverpool's owner, Fenway Sports Group, has been swift to replace Brendan Rodgers, and should Klopp be appointed on Thursday, the international break will give him time to settle in and work with at least some of the squad before the club's return to domestic action on October 17.

The Reds are only three points behind the top four, and with the likes of Crystal Palace and Leicester City likely to fall away over the course of the season and Chelsea floundering in 16th, a top-four finish is realistic for Klopp's prospective side.