01 February 2024 , 23:00
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Jamie Carragher has revealed Gary Neville jokingly told him Liverpool will be "f***ed for another 30 years" once Jurgen Klopp leaves the club.
Klopp announced last week that he would be stepping down as Liverpool manager at the end of the season and Manchester United legend Neville could not resist taking a dig at his Sky Sports colleague and ex-Reds defender Carragher as soon as he heard the news.
"I wake up and I get the Klopp news," Carragher said on the Stick to Football podcast. "[Neville] then text me saying he's in the same place skiing. I was like oh no. Can I read you what he sent me?
"I am in Courchevel. Your manager is f***ing off and that's you lot f***ed for another 30 years." However, Neville was also quick to pay tribute to Klopp and the impact he has had during his tenure at Liverpool.
"On a serious note, I think he is the most exceptional manager and someone who has not just been brilliant for Liverpool but unbelievable for the Premier League," Neville added. "He's connected Liverpool, the city, the fans, the team, the spirit, everything has been unbelievable for seven or eight years.
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"I remember the early years when you saw it grow and you thought 'oh no, this is proper this' and he's created that there. How the hell in the world do you even begin to think about replacing him?"
Ex-Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso, who has impressed as manager of Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen this season, is among the favourites to take over and his former team-mate Carragher believes he is an ideal replacement.
Carragher shared a text Neville sent him after Klopp announced he would be leaving Liverpool (The Overlap)"There is no secret, everyone feels like they have a plan to go forward," he said. "Sir Alex Ferguson picked the next manager, he thought he was helping the club by bringing David Moyes in. For me, if we’re talking about who should come in, I think it should be Xabi Alonso.
"He is very inexperienced in management, having managed just sixty or seventy games, but what you would have straight away is the club on side. Not just because he's an ex-Liverpool player, but because of the respect he had as a player and what he's done at Bayern Leverkusen within eighteen months is remarkable.
"They were in the relegation zone when he came in and he almost qualified for the Champions League last year and got to the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League. This season, they are top of the league and in the Europa League."