Thursday 8 October 2015 06:19, UK
With Liverpool closing on a deal to make Jurgen Klopp their new manager, we look at the backroom team the German may bring with him to Anfield.
Liverpool's owners, the Fenway Sports Group, are expected to allow Klopp to hire his own assistants, likely to comprise of those who worked alongside him during his seven years at the Westfalenstadion.
MAIN ALLIES
These are Klopp's most trusted lieutenants who could follow him to Merseyside if he becomes Liverpool boss:
Peter Krawietz
Krawietz would be one of Klopp's two main assistants at Liverpool having worked alongside him at both Mainz and then Borussia Dortmund.
The 43-year-old - who never played professional football - specialises as a video analyst concentrating on his own team, as well as the opposition, while he has also been Klopp's chief scout during the course of the last 14 years.
Described by former Dortmund midfielder Paul Lambert as being "very good" at his job, Krawietz was promoted to be Klopp's assistant coach at Dortmund.
"Peter is a big part of his team and he was at Mainz with him. He knows him really well and is someone who he trusts to be very analytical about the game. He's someone he'll lean on," the Scott added.
"I also liaise with the amateurs and youth squad, and tell the people in charge what's important to the head coach," is how he described part of his job at the Westfalenstadion.
Zeljko Buvac
Buvac is Klopp's other key coaching ally, with the pair having known each other since 1992 when they were team-mates at Mainz.
Buvac hung up his boots in 1998, managing SC Neukirchen with little success for three years until Klopp appointed him as his assistant when he took over at the Coface Arena in 2001, before then following him to Dortmund seven years later.
The Bosnian - currently head coach of the Republika Srpska national team - is Klopp's right-hand man in charge of training sessions and is known as 'The Brain' due to his expert tactical knowledge of the game.
"Zeljko is a football genius, a master of every practice drill," Klopp says of his close friend, while Lambert called the 54-year-old: "Very quiet, but excellent. I can understand why Jurgen calls him that ['The Brain']. I have seen him working; he does not say much, but is very astute on the game."
Dortmund midfielder Nuri Sahin, who also spent a period on loan at Liverpool, says the duo have a telepathic relationship.
"Zeljko Buvac is basically Klopp's twin," Sahin told the Bundesliga website. "Both of them see football in exactly the same way."
Klopp, Krawietz and Buvac have formed a hugely successful partnership at Mainz and Dortmund since 2001, with Lambert saying of the trio: "They work really well and are an excellent team. You can see on the pictures just how close they are. If the three of them come over - I would be shocked if these two don't come with him to Liverpool - then I think they will be a great fit for Liverpool."
RAIDING THE WESTFALENSTADION
However, Klopp may also want to try and persuade two other members of his coaching setup at Dortmund to join him should he agree to take the vacant manager's position at Anfield:
Wolfgang de Beer
De Beer kept goal for Dortmund for 15 years before a serious knee injury forced him to hang up his gloves in 2001, with the German going on to become the Bundesliga club's goalkeeping coach a year later.
The 51-year-old stayed at the Signal Iduna Park following Klopp's departure at the end of last season, so it is not known whether he would follow him to Merseyside or not.
Andreas Beck
Klopp brought Beck to Dortmund as one of the club's three main fitness coaches in 2012, a position he had held for the previous five years at 1.FC Nurnberg, with his main responsibilities being to warm the players up before training and focusing on their rehabilitation.
Again, it is not known if Klopp intends to bring the 39-year-old with him to Merseyside should he agree to become the Reds' next boss.
EX-REDS
Klopp may decide to turn to some former Liverpool players to help maintain a link with the club, especially given current first-team coach and former midfielder Gary McAllister could leave Anfield if the 48-year-old's appointment is confirmed.
And if Klopp does opt to go down that route, then these ex-Liverpool players could be contenders to join his backroom team:
Dietmar Hamann
Hamann enjoyed great success at Anfield between 1999 and 2006 and, since retiring in 2011, the former Germany international has been involved in coaching with the likes of MK Dons, Leicester City and Stockport County.
The 42-year-old, who Klopp is understood to have sounded out about the job, also completed his UEFA Pro Licence coaching qualification in 2013.
Markus Babbel
The German spent four years at Anfield under Gerard Houllier's management, before his career at the club was brought to a premature end after he was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome.
However, after hanging up his boots in 2007, Babbel has since gone on to manage Stuttgart, Hertha Berlin, Hoffenheim and currently Swiss club Luzern.
Sami Hyypia
Hyypia was a hugely popular figure at the club between 1999 and 2009, with the former Liverpool captain then moving into management after retiring from the game four years ago.
The Finn has been in charge of Bayer Leverkusen - who he guided to the last 16 of the Champions League and finished fourth in his first full season at the Bundesliga club - Brighton & Hove Albion and now FC Zurich, although the 41-year-old has been consistently linked with a return to Anfield in a coaching capacity in recent years.
