Dortmund's Klopp rules out Chelsea switch

21 March 2012 15:16

Borussia Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp has ruled himself out of the vacant Chelsea job, but admits he is flattered to be mentioned in the same company as Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola.

The 44-year-old Klopp steered Dortmund to the German league title last season and the British media have linked him to the vacancy at Chelsea along with Real Madrid boss Mourinho and Barcelona coach Guardiola.

Klopp is reported to be high on the wish-list of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich as the Russian looks to replace Andre Villas-Boas, who was sacked at the start of March.

But the German says he has no desire to take over the Premier League team.

"I can turn them down straight away," Klopp told German Sky after Dortmund's dramatic German Cup semi-final victory over second division Greuther Fuerth on Tuesday.

"I will not be moving there. But I do think it is cool that I am being named in the same breath as Mourinho and Guardiola.

"That is enough - that is already a personal tale for me, but I am not available, sorry."

In January, Klopp extended his Dortmund contract until 2016 having coached Borussia since 2008. His team currently have a five-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga with eight games left.

Meanwhile, Dortmund midfielder Ilkay Gundogan was thanked for scoring the winning goal against Fuerth by being left behind by the Borussia team bus.

Having answered a deluge of questions from journalists, the 21-year-old turned to board the team bus to Nuremberg airport to fly back to Nord Rhine Westphalia only to discover his team-mates had already left.

"It must have been noticed by somebody, it can't be true," a red-faced Gundogan told nearby reporters.

After a ten-minute delay, the bus returned to pick up the match-winner who boarded to a round of applause.

Source: AFP