Have Liverpool Just Stolen Manchester United's Successor for Louis van Gaal?

The appointment of Jurgen Klopp has naturally inspired euphoria at Anfield, but at the same time, it has also caused an unsettling sense of jealousy over at Old Trafford.

They might be loath to admit it, but the creeping fear among many Manchester United fans is Liverpool might now have a manager who could turn the club into a force again.

One noted United fan was not afraid to swallow his pride and express his concern at Klopp’s arrival on Merseyside.

Sir Alex Ferguson told ESPN FC:

"

Well, it’s a good appointment. I admire him. I know Jurgen pretty well through our meetings at [FIFA] coaches’ classes in Geneva.

[He has] a strong personality, very strong, very stubborn, determined and his performances, and his career at Dortmund was a stellar rise to the top and I think he’ll do very well.

I don’t like saying that, being Liverpool, because I’m worried about it but, no, he’ll do well.

"

As well as this concern, Klopp’s arrival has also inspired some degree of jealousy at United as they wait to be convinced by the merits of their own manager, Louis van Gaal.

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With Klopp installed at Anfield, could Liverpool now be able to boast they have a better manager, more geared to success, than rivals United?

Since Van Gaal last won a major trophy in 2010, Klopp has won the Bundesliga twice, a German Cup and narrowly lost the Champions League final in 2013.

It seems reasonable to ask: Do Liverpool now have the shiny new younger model while United are saddled with yesterday’s man, who—despite investing £250 million to provide himself with a brand-new team—is still struggling to recreate his past glories?

But a worse thought than all of that is that Liverpool might just have appointed a potential future Manchester United manager.

Klopp would have been a good fit at Old Trafford; the energy, the charisma and the pedigree of the man mean he would have thrived there, as he is likely to now do at Anfield.

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There was also a mutual attraction. According to his former coach at Mainz, Eckhard Krautzun, in an interview with Goal (via the Manchester Evening News), “[Klopp] once told me, one day, when it does not fit with Dortmund any more, Manchester United would be his club.”

Klopp, too, has been on United’s radar for several years. In the spring of 2013, when Ferguson stepped down and was charged with finding his successor, there was interest in bringing him to Old Trafford, but as he writes in his new book, Leading (via Sky Sports), “We knew that Jurgen Klopp was happy at Borussia Dortmund and would be signing a new contract.”

A year later, when the experiment with David Moyes had so wretchedly failed, Klopp was immediately made the favourite to succeed him at United but quickly ruled himself out and committed himself to Borussia Dortmund.

That summer, United went for Van Gaal, but 15 months on, the Dutchman remains an enigma at Old Trafford, where opinion on him and his brand of football sways between guarded optimism and frustration and despair.

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The situation is volatile. United were top of the league at the start of October, but a humiliating 3-0 defeat to Arsenal toppled them and meant all those gnawing doubts about Van Gaal and his slow progress came flooding back and lingered throughout the international break.

An impressive win at Everton on Saturday means all is well in the world, but a defeat to Manchester City on Sunday would undermine Van Gaal once again. 

If Van Gaal falters this season, Klopp, having finally wrenched himself out of Dortmund and enjoying a sabbatical, would have been an ideal replacement.

But that chance has gone now—probably forever. If Klopp succeeds at Liverpool, he will remain out of reach, and if he fails, United would view him as damaged goods in the Premier League.

But if Klopp had resisted Liverpool and remained available for the rest of the season, another disappointing campaign from Van Gaal could have seen the German approached for a third time and finally appointed.

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What is certain is there is a shortlist of possible future United managers tucked away in the desk of the United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward that has just had a name crossed out on it.

The other names on that list have not changed greatly since the spring of 2013 when, according to Ferguson, it included Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho, Van Gaal and Carlo Ancelotti.

Van Gaal is now getting his chance, and Mourinho—after another spell at Chelsea—carries even more baggage, leaving just Ancelotti and the more attractive Guardiola as viable options.

With Klopp now taken and few other credible alternatives emerging, the case to promote from within in the shape of Ryan Giggs will become ever more attractive to the United hierarchy.

For several years, Klopp had the look of a Manchester United manager-in-waiting about him, but that will never happen now.