A quadruple, a statue and a potential contract extension - What does the future hold for Liverpool's 21st-century saviour Jurgen Klopp?

Privately, Jurgen Klopp has been known to wonder why he is so often asked about his Liverpool future.

The Reds manager is contracted up until 2024 at Anfield and should he leave on the day his current term expires, his nine-year stay on Merseyside will represent the longest spell of his coaching career.

Having previously spent seven years apiece at Borussia Dortmund and Mainz, Klopp may justifiably feel he has given his absolute all to the cause at Liverpool by the time the summer of 2024 rolls around.

He will depart - whatever happens and whenever it happens from here - as one of the greatest managers the club has ever had. He will likely be the topic of conversation for an Anfield statue too.

The greatest manager of the 21st century will be able to rub shoulders with Bob Paisley, Bill Shankly and Kenny Dalglish regardless of what trophies he collects between now and the end of his contract.

That is surely not up for debate.

And as Liverpool continue to chase down a truly historic and unprecedented quadruple, Klopp's halcyon days may not have even happened yet. That must be an incredible feeling for those who support the club from both near and far.

The Carabao Cup success last month once more swung Klopp's future into the focus of the media, who started to ask if he might consider staying on beyond 2024 after his latest triumph.

This reporter was sitting inside the AXA Training Centre when Klopp was asked, fresh from his Carabao Cup glory, if he would consider extending it past the decade.

Asked what would persuade him to stay or walk away in two years’ time, he replied: “If I have the energy levels for it. That is important. I love what I do but I’ve said a couple of times there must be something else out there in the world, to be honest, apart from always thinking about properly skilled, good-looking, fantastically nice football players.

“But I really don’t think about it. At the moment I am full of energy but we have to - I have to - make sure that is the case because I don’t want to sit around and be more tired than others and think: ‘Wow, why is everyone bothered about the things out there because I couldn’t care less?'"

Liverpool still have plenty to look forward to under Klopp

Arsenal v Liverpool - Premier League

Behind the scenes at times, Klopp has wondered why there is such an appetite for what lies in his future compared to his Manchester City counterpart Pep Guardiola, who appears to largely escape similar treatment at the Etihad.

"My future will be OK," he said. "I don't have to plan. I could book last minute - let's put it like this. It is not a problem.

"No, the plan is the future of the club and what we are constantly working on, that everything is in place and the things we do here, they are not for me, not for us, not for this generation - they are for a long, long time [in the future]."

It will inevitably be a day of mixed emotions when Klopp finally takes a route out of Merseyside but that day, whenever it comes, is not arriving any time soon.

Perhaps Liverpool supporters simply need to enjoy what they have in the here and now as far as their manager is concerned and leave the discussions over his successor to a time when one will be needed.

Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard and assistant manager Pep Lijnders are perhaps the two very early frontrunners as far as Liverpool's next manager goes, but Julian Nagelsmann is another who the Anfield hierarchy admire - something which dates all the way back to his time with Hoffenheim when the two met in a UEFA Champions League qualifier in 2017.

There is also ample opportunity and time to give rise to a new managerial heavyweight in the next two-and-a-half years, assuming Klopp does ride off into the sunset in 2024.

For now, though, there is little to be gleaned from wishing away the final years of the most transformative figure in decades at Liverpool Football Club.