Borussia Dortmund’s charismatic coach Jurgen Klopp has poured cold water on rumours linking him to Spanish giants Barcelona with the 46-year-old insisting he is happy where he is.
Klopp, whose present contract ties him to the German side until 2018, has enjoyed great success steering Dortmund to back-to-back German league titles in 2011 and 2012, plus last season’s Champions League final.
They are are currently a distant second in the Bundesliga.
There has been speculation in the Spanish media linking the German to Barcelona and newspaper Marca reported that 31.3 percent of their readers would like to see Klopp coach them.
Barcelona manager Gerardo Martino is under pressure after his side failed to reach the Champions League semi-finals, lost in the Spanish Copa del Rey final to bitter rivals Real Madrid and are third in La Liga.
Klopp, though, insists he will not be replacing Martino.
“No one has to give it any thought,” he told the BVB.de website.
“We’re all still a bit in love with this club here and the way we do things.”
Klopp still has hopes of lifting some silverware this season as they face German champions Bayern Munich in the German Cup final on May 17.
Klopp’s popularity bore unusual fruit on Thursday when bids for an alleged piece of gum he chewed during Dortmund’s 2-0 German Cup semi-final win over Wolfsburg on Tuesday received bids of 150 euros (US$207) on Ebay before the seller abruptly ended the auction.