Simon Jordan answers Jurgen Klopp vs Pep Guardiola debate following Liverpool bombshell

Simon Jordan has ranked Jurgen Klopp above Pep Guardiola in the pantheon of all-time greats.

That is despite the Spaniard winning five times as many Premier League titles as the Liverpool manager. The debate has raged since the two first locked horns in Germany, with Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund respectively.

Their rivalry intensified once Guardiola joined Manchester City ahead of the 2016-17 campaign. The former Barcelona man has always steered the leading force wherever he has managed while Klopp, some argue, has dragged teams above their means.

Klopp took over a Reds side that were 10th and made them champions for the first time in 30 years. From a European perspective, he also guided Liverpool to three Champions League finals - winning one.

The German leads Guardiola by one (12-11) in the overall head-to-head record, with the duo set to renew hostilities at Anfield on March 9. Speaking to talkSPORT, ex-Crystal Palace chairman Jordan named Klopp as the better of the two managers.

“Oh, I think he’s up there (great Premier League managers,” he said. “He’s been like an orchestrator conducting the audience, getting the feel for what he wants behind the team and building teams that I’ve enjoyed watching.

“I’ve enjoyed Liverpool’s brand of football more than Arsenal or Manchester City. It’s more feral, more aggressive. At times, he’s been a brilliant statesman for the Premier League.

The prestige he gets isn’t quite matched by the achievements. But I still think, in my view, Klopp is the best manager. For me, the brand of football he plays, he is. If he were managing Man City, with the resources he would have, he would do everything that Guardiola is doing.”