Jurgen Klopp insists he is at peace with the amount of trophies he won at Liverpool and will not lobby for more amid calls for Manchester City to be stripped of titles.Klopp’s friendly rivalry with City boss Pep Guardiola defined an era of the Premier League but it has been confirmed this week that the Manchester club cheated their way to success by financial doping, in a judgment that is pending an appeal.Some of the sanctions on the table include relegation or stripping City of titles, in which they won six in the Guardiola era – several of which Liverpool were close to, with Manchester United and Arsenal the closest challengers in other seasons.And Klopp said: ‘Of course I’ve heard about that, but I haven’t given it much thought. I can only wait and see. ‘I have big respect for Pep Guardiola and City’s style of football. They played fantastic football and were a top-class opponent for us. ‘If any sanctions are handed out, I have nothing to do with it. I’ll wait and see. I’m far from preparing for a title or anything like that. Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool side went head-to-head with Pep Guardiola’s Man City team in one of the Premier League’s defining rivalries Man City beat Klopp’s Liverpool team to two Premier League titles, edging their rivals by a point on both occasions‘I’m absolutely fine with what we achieved at Liverpool. We fought hard on the pitch.‘I can’t say more about that because I don’t know the details and I’m not interested in them.’Klopp was speaking ahead of Germany’s game against Serbia. He previously said that he would throw a party and foot a bill in Mallorca should City be found guilty but the new German boss was more measured this time. An independent commission ruled that Man City had disguised payments worth £900million in a nine-year period peppered with ‘sham’ deals. In a damning 40-page verdict, published on Tuesday, found City, artificially inflated sponsorship agreements and pumped money into the club from its Abu Dhabi owners via disguised payments in a bid to swerve Premier League spending rules.Klopp’s Liverpool team had gone head-to-head with Guardiola’s City side in one of the defining rivalries of the Premier League era, finishing as runners-up on two occasions. Liverpool finished second behind City in the 2018-19 season by just a point, with the title race going down to the final day of the campaign.The Reds ended the season on 97 points, the highest tally achieved by a second-placed side, as City were crowned champions on 98. The following campaign saw Klopp’s Liverpool side emerge as runaway champions in the Covid-19 affected season, ending 18 points clear of City. Another nail-biting title race between the teams came in the 2021-22 season, with Man City again pipping Liverpool by a point. Klopp’s Liverpool side finished a point behind champions Man City in the 2018-19 season Liverpool responded by ending their long-wait for the league title the following season Klopp’s side again finished as runners-up by a single point in the 2021-22 campaignGuardiola’s side won the league on 93 points, with Liverpool ending on 92.After slipping 13 points behind Man City in early stages of the following season, Klopp was asked about what Liverpool needed to do to keep competing with their rivals ahead of the sides meeting in October 2022.’You will not like the answer about that and you have the answer already, nobody can compete with City,’ Klopp replied. ‘You have the best team in the world and you put in the best striker on the market, no matter what it costs, you just do it.’City will not like it, nobody will like it, but you know the answer. We cannot act like them, it is not possible, not possible.’It is just clear and again you know the answer. There are three clubs in world football who can do what they want financially.’It is legal and everything fine but they can do what they want. It is exactly the fact, we have to look here and we need that, we have to look here and make it younger, here a prospect and there a talent.’You compete with them, it is not a problem at all for me, it is like it is. Don’t ask me that question because you open this discussion and it is me telling you. You all know it, you should know, it is not possible to deal with that. Klopp claimed in October 2022 that ‘nobody can compete with Man City’, suggesting that they were one of three clubs in world football who can ‘do what they want financially’
‘I heard the Newcastle [sporting director Dan Ashworth] say there’s no ceiling for this club – he’s absolutely right.’There’s no ceiling for Newcastle, congratulations, some other clubs have ceilings.’Reports quoting senior City sources suggested they felt Klopp’s comments were ‘borderline xenophobic’.Liverpool explored legal action following the report, while Klopp rejected the claims at his next press conference.’In this specific case, I don’t feel it at all,’ Klopp said. ‘I know myself. And you cannot hit with something which is miles away from my personality.’If I was – I cannot remember the word – like this I would hate it. I would hate myself for being like this.’The dispute came months before Man City were charged by the Premier League in February 2023.When asked about the charges, Klopp responded: ‘I have absolutely nothing to say about that.’After leaving Liverpool at the end of the 2023-24 season, Klopp offered a light-hearted response to the potential for the Reds to be awarded two Premier League titles if City were found guilty. ‘You leave this club having won the Premier League once, but there could be a court decision that means you have won the Premier League three times,’ comedian John Bishop mentioned at ‘An Evening with Jurgen Klopp’ in May 2024.’If you organise a bus parade I am in,’ Klopp joked in response.’How long it takes, I don’t care how long.’