'I'll watch Villa games closer!' - Klopp reacts to Gerrard appointment
Jürgen Klopp has welcomed Steven Gerrard’s return to the Premier League as the new Aston Villa manager as ‘great news’.
The Liverpool legend was appointed to his second senior coaching position last week, following three-and-a-half years in charge of Glasgow Rangers.
Gerrard will bring Villa to Anfield in less than a month’s time – an afternoon when the fond sentiments between the former Reds captain and the club’s current boss will temporarily pause.
But Klopp is otherwise delighted by the prospect of Gerrard being in the top flight.
“Really happy for him, to be honest,” Klopp told Liverpoolfc.com. “I know he loved the job at Rangers, but it’s how it is. When you have the opportunity to work in the Premier League, then probably each coach in the world would consider it.
“With a club the size of Aston Villa, I can imagine he is really buzzing about it. It’s a great opportunity for him, it’s great for the club.
“In a few weeks we will face each other. I texted him obviously and we had a few messages back and forth. It’s good, I’m really looking forward to it.
“From now on I will watch Aston Villa games a bit closer, but apart from that when we meet them obviously then it’s different. But it’s good. That’s for him the same, it must be the same. For these 95 minutes all sentiments have to be put aside, that’s how it is.
“But, anyhow, it’s great news.”