UEFA delegate Florin Prunea has launched an astonishing attack on Jurgen Klopp - taking aim at the ex-Liverpool boss' career decisions and even his personal looks
A UEFA official has launched an incredible attack on Jurgen Klopp, where he took aim at his looks, his decision to leave Liverpool and take up a role with Red Bull - claiming he is there "just to collect money".
Florin Prunea, a former Romanian international and now a UEFA delegate, has picked holes in a lot of the calls taken by the German in recent years. Klopp is regarded as one of the greatest managers of his generational and is now in a directorial role with Red Bull Soccer.
In Prunea's current role with UEFA it is his job to ensure matches run smoothly by overseeing all aspects of a game, acting as a link to UEFA headquarters. It makes his comments regarding Klopp all the more shocking.
In his native Romanian he used a phrase, which effectively saw him refer to the ex-Liverpool boss as a "clown." Prunea then questioned his reasons for leaving Liverpool, despite the host of the podcast he was on citing the burnout after more than eight years.
Prunea took aim at his next job and claimed on the IamSport Podcast that Klopp: "Went to Red Bull. He went to Red Bull Salzburg just to hang around and get some money for nothing."
Klopp, having coached Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund to league success, has maintained that he will doesn't want to return to a coaching capacity. He's now working in a multi-club model with his remit seeing him take more of an oversight role across a number of clubs including RB Leipzig, Red Bull Salzburg and New York Red Bulls.
Prunea later made his feelings crystal clear on the German, belittling his personal appearance, as he said: "I never liked him. All that circus… You’d say he was chewing bricks with his teeth."
Klopp wasn't shy in making his feelings known, especially to broadcasters when discussing player welfare and fixture schedules, but he was universally liked and respected throughout the footballing world. It makes Prunea's attack all the more surprising.
The German previously said on his new project with Red Bull: "A few months after that the opportunity came up. I don't want to be a passenger or a prominent person in the room. I really want to put some value on it.
"I did not want to do that [be a manager] anymore. I wanted to get a new start and this is an opportunity. To add value. How it will look we will see. There is not one plan that works for all teams. We want to be the best we can be. In each department, in each club."