Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has revealed how his first thought was ‘Oh God!’ when Everton unveiled Carlo Ancelotti as their new manager in December last year.
READ MORE: Bruno Fernandes issues second statement on relationship with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Klopp, 53, is approaching his sixth year as Liverpool boss and has already written his name in scouser folklore after guiding the Reds to their first Premier League title in 30-years last season.
In addition to the world-renown Premier League title, Klopp also bagged the illustrious Champions League trophy during the 2018-19 season and went onto lift the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup weeks later.
However, despite two-seasons of back-to-back success and silverware, Klopp found himself on the wrong end of a shock thumping last time out, after his side were thrashed 7-2 by Dean Smith’s Aston Villa.
Elsewhere, across town, arch-rivals Everton are flying and could not have started the 2020-21 season in better form.
The Toffees remain unbeaten in the Premier League after taking a maximum 12 points from their first four matches and currently sit top of the table.
Speaking exclusively to TalkSPORT, Liverpool’s Klopp has admitted that his first thought was ‘Oh God!’ when world-class gaffer Ancelotti was announced as Everton’s new manager.
Klopp has said that there was ‘never any doubt’ that his Italian counter-part would do an ‘incredible’ job as Everton manager.
Speaking on the pair’s relationship ahead of the eagerly anticipated Merseyside derby tomorrow, Klopp said: “I love it.
“It is really difficult for both of us because we have to do like we hate each other, but we don’t.
“That is how it is. He is the manager of Everton, I’m Liverpool, but apart from that we have a really good relationship.
“He is doing an incredible job, there was never any doubt about that.
“When I heard he was going there I thought, ‘Oh, God’. I didn’t like that fact but he is there and he is doing an incredible job.”
Speaking about the threat Everton now pose, Klopp went onto add: “It is difficult coming in the middle of a season to turn things around, and now he has brought in a lot of really good players that fit in 100 per cent.
“I am not too interested in what Everton is doing usually but this year when I saw it, it was obvious like, ‘oh God he fits there perfectly, he fits there perfectly, him as well’.
“You could really see it was the perfect business for them and it makes them a proper threat immediately. Not in one, two, three years… immediately. That is what we all have to face.”