Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has previously lauded Everton-linked managerial candidate Marcelo Bielsa.
The 67-year-old got his first taste of Premier League football after helping seal Leeds United's return to the English top-flight after over a decade away in 2020. He spent four years at Elland Road and has been immortalised by the Whites fans after managing a feat that his 16 predecessors failed to do.
Everton's managerial search is underway after the sacking of Frank Lampard. The former Chelsea midfielder saw his time at Goodison Park come to an end after just one win in 14, with their dismal defeat at the London Stadium against West Ham on Saturday being the final straw.
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Bielsa has been installed as the early favourite with the bookmakers to be the next manager in the hot seat in L4. Should the Argentine take charge, he will have 18 games to steer the Blues to another famous survival with Lampard doing so last season.
The Liverpool manager has previously lauded the former Athletic Bilbao and Argentina head coach. According to reports elsewhere, he is "open" to returning to England.
"I admire him, but I was never close enough to him. I watched his teams playing, that’s pretty exceptional. The rest I got from newspapers and stuff like this," the German said.
"I analysed some games, even in the past already and had a look at that. We have a different approach; there are similarities obviously, but there are big differences as well.
"I like him without knowing him as a proper character, obviously. And maybe the hardest-working of all of us, I don’t know, I think we all work pretty much but I don’t think we really can compete with him in that area.
"When I think about the analysis he presented around the Derby game! That was some information about the opponent obviously. We have a lot of information, I’m not sure we have exactly the same amount. That was funny as well.
"I’m really looking forward to meeting him. He is an inspiration for all coaches because what he is doing, he sticks to it and really pushes it through – and is successful with it. That makes him a very, very interesting figure in this business."
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