Atalanta manager responds to Liverpool job links ahead of Europa League quarter-final second leg
Gian Piero Gasperini is flattered by speculation linking him with Liverpool as Jurgen Klopp's successor but insists it is not something he is prepared to be distracted by.
Liverpool are yet to appoint a replacement for Klopp, who is stepping down at the end of the season, having prioritised building a fresh sporting structure above the new manager first.
Xabi Alonso ruled himself out of the running to stay with Bayer Leverkusen, leaving Sporting CP boss Ruben Amorim as the new frontrunner. The likes of Roberto De Zerbi and Julian Nagelsmann also remain linked. But suggestions that Liverpool could also consider 66-year-old Gasperini emerged in the wake of his Atalanta team demolishing the Reds at Anfield last week.
Preparing to face Liverpool again in the second leg of that Europa League quarter-final, Gasperini was asked the possibility of such a move.
«Of course, I am happy with links to the Liverpool job to replace Klopp but my focus is on the game. We can't be distracted by these kind of stories, we have to focus on the upcoming games,» he said.
Initially building his coaching career in the youth ranks at Juventus in the 1990s, Gasperini has been with Atalanta since 2016 after previous jobs with Genoa, Inter and Palermo. He guided Atalanta, historically one of Italy's yo-yo clubs, to third place in Serie A in 2018/19 and then to the Champions League quarter-finals the following season, maintaining third place twice more to keep qualifying.
Gasperini's side won 2-0 at Anfield in the 2020/21 group stage and reached the last 16 against Real Madrid, while only late Cristiano Ronaldo goals denied them home and away wins over Manchester United in 2021/22. In this season's Europa League, Atalanta topped their group ahead of
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