Soccer-Liverpool boss Klopp signs new contract until 2026

(Reuters) -Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp has signed a two-year contract extension that will keep him at Anfield until 2026, giving the club a huge boost ahead of a defining period in which they could win an unprecedented quadruple.

Liverpool confirmed in a statement on Thursday that assistant managers Pep Lijnders and Peter Krawietz had also signed contract extensions with the Premier League club.

Klopp, who joined Liverpool from Borussia Dortmund in October 2015, had said in March he would remain in charge of the club beyond the end of his previous contract in 2024 only if he had the energy levels.

After signing his new deal, he said there was a freshness about the club still that “energises” him.

“There are so many words I could use to describe how I am feeling about this news… delighted, humbled, blessed, privileged and excited would be a start,” Klopp said in a statement.

“For as long as I have been here, our owners have been unbelievably committed and energetic about this club and it is clear that right now this applies to our future as much as I’ve ever known.

“There is just so much to love about this place. I knew that before I came here, I got to know it even better after I arrived and now I know it more than ever before.”

Klopp, 54, has won five trophies in seven years since swapping the Ruhr valley for Merseyside, guiding Liverpool to the Champions League, Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup victories in 2019 before lifting the Premier League the following year.

Liverpool remain on course to clinch a quadruple this season, having won the League Cup in February and reached the FA Cup final, while they trail Premier League leaders Manchester City by a single point with five games left.

They are in the box seat in their Champions League semi-final against Villarreal after a 2-0 first-leg victory kept them on track for a third final in five seasons.

“Like any healthy relationship, it always has to be a two-way street, you have to be right for each other. The feeling we were absolutely right for each other is what brought me here in the first place and it’s why I’ve extended previously,” Klopp said.

“We are a club that is constantly moving in the right direction. We have a clear idea of what we want, we have a clear idea of how we try to achieve it. That’s always a great position to start from.”

(Reporting by Hritika Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Jan Harvey and Toby Davis)