Jürgen Klopp has said he is astonished by how much people listen to what he has to say. Klopp, whose Liverpool started the season with a thrilling 4-3 win over Arsenal at the Emirates, told the German magazine Stern in an exclusive interview: “A football manager is listened to in a way that actually makes you wonder about the intelligence of the human race.

“I recently met a famous brain surgeon in New York and in his brain, when it comes to intelligence, there are definitely 80% more light bulbs alight than in mine. But what happens? He started to stutter because he is crazy about football and this person from LFC was suddenly standing in front of him.”

The German added that he is very happy in England, partly because he can just be himself but also because people do not seem to mind the idiosyncrasies of his spoken English: “The fantastic thing about the English is that they just accept you as you are, even me, in my little ‘speech prison’. They often find out what I mean,” he said.

The 49-year-old added that he had signed his new long-term contract because he asked himself whether he wanted to manage anywhere else and that the answer was “No”.

“I asked myself, ‘Where do I still want to work?’ rather than ‘What do I still want to win?’ and couldn’t think of many places.Do I want another club in Germany? No. In England? No. In Asia, Russia or the United Arab Emirates? No, no, no. And then I thought that I am already at the right club and why should I worry about how long I am here for. If I am at the end of my career has managed only three clubs, then at least they were great clubs.”

Liverpool play Burnley in their second Premier League game of the season on Saturday.