Jurgen Klopp gave new Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler 'very important' advice in lengthy phone call

07/02/2024 09:17 AM

Brighton's Fabian Hurzeler has revealed he received key advice from Jurgen Klopp during a long phone call with the Liverpool icon.

Klopp – who led the Reds to numerous trophies including a Premier League and Champions League – ended his nine years at Anfield at the end of last season, with Arne Slot arriving as his replacement.

It's been all change at the AMEX too, with the Seagulls also waving goodbye to their manager, Roberto De Zerbi, on the final day of the campaign.

The club have since announced German manager Hurzeler will be taking the reins – and it turns out he got some 'very important' advice from his compatriot as part of his preparation for his new role.

He told talkSPORT: "Yeah, so I had a few calls with Germans who have worked before in the Premier League.

"One of them was Jurgen Klopp and he gave me very, very important advice. He was one of the most successful coaches in the Premier League. 

"I asked him for the differences between the football in Germany and the football in England, about the culture, about the people, the media.

"All of the areas that are important for the coaches, so. He was very, very helpful."

Klopp wasn't the only one to offer some words of wisdom, either.

"Not only him but other coaches," Hurzeler continued. "I made a lot of calls over the last weeks just to compare myself the best way I can for this big challenge."

But Jim White wanted to know more on what Klopp told him.

Hurzeler kept his cards close to his chest, though, smiling and saying: "Yeah of course he's a big fan of the UK. We were having a long call and then afterwards he said 'yeah, you might be ready'.

"I'm really looking forward to it. I will have fun in the Premier League and I really love it and that's the best thing for me. It was a great call."

The 31-year-old will become the youngest manager in Premier League history when the season begins, with a few of his own players set to be older than him, including captain Lewis Dunk.

"So I call myself a friendly authority," he said when asked how he plans to approach that. "My passion is football and I try to use the power of ideas to convince my players.

"I try to convince them by asking why you should do it and in the end my job from my team is to make every player valued, feel valued and to make every player better.

"That's my leading style."

The former Bayern Munich youth player was at St Pauli for two years prior to his move to the AMAX.

The two sides play in similar ways, but Hurzeler says the Seagulls feel like the perfect fit for him for a whole host of reasons, including the club’s hierarchy.

He said: "Not many clubs in the world could convince me to leave St Pauli but Brighton was one of them and I had from the first second a really, really good feeling.

"All the atmosphere here and the facilities around me are amazing so I'm really looking forward to the next challenge."