For the workaholic, the notion of spending 12 months on sabbatical seemed alien and, in practice, has proved too difficult an ask with which to adhere.

Thomas Tuchel, the former Mainz coach who replaced Klopp at Borussia Dortmund in the summer, took his year out and Pep Guardiola decamped to New York in between leaving Barcelona and moving to the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich.

Yet while Klopp has spent time on the small German island of Sylt where he has a home, visiting old friends in Mainz, where he was both player and manager, and also in Portugal, a familiar pattern has been played out of late.