The FSG ‘criteria’ for the next manager of Liverpool indicates that a clear favourite is emerging.

Jurgen Klopp, the manager of Liverpool, is making sure his replacement can start winning in the summer, which may facilitate FSG’s decision-making process.

Much of Jurgen Klopp’s rule has been unparalleled, from ending the lengthy wait for a Premier League title to becoming global champions for the first time to, as of Wednesday, completing 200 wins as Liverpool manager in record time.

Even the way the German will now depart Anfield at the end of the current campaign marks a change for the team.

Since learning of Klopp’s intention to retire back in November, Fenway Sports Group has been in an uncommon and perhaps enviable position in their ongoing search for a replacement.

Naturally, three managers have departed Liverpool when it was solely owned by FSG. Nonetheless, it might be argued that current circumstance differs from previous ones.

Think back to past departures. The current owners fired Brendan Rodgers, Kenny Dalglish, and Roy Hodgson. Earlier in the Premier League era, Rafael Benitez, Gerard Houllier, and Roy Evans—who replaced the fired Graeme Souness thirty years ago—were also helped out. Evans was the first Liverpool manager fired since Phil Taylor in 1959.

A clear succession line had existed between the two sackings. Bob Paisley, Bill Shankly’s assistant, succeeded him, and he then turned things over to Joe Fagan, another bootroom lad. After Fagan left the club after two years, Kenny Dalglish took over as the first and only player-manager of the team.

More seasoned Reds supporters have compared the astonished astonishment following Klopp’s declaration last week to that which followed Dalglish’s departure in February 1991. But that’s probably where the parallels end. Both had given up on managing Liverpool for very different reasons, but the Reds were in a very different place as a team under Dalglish, still processing the fallout from the Hillsborough tragedy that had occurred less than two years earlier and ill-prepared for the Premier League’s impending transformation. Even though the team was still in contention for awards that season, they had grown accustomed to one another and needed a significant change soon.

In contrast, Liverpool has strengthened for the future with the influx of players over the last 18 months and the rise of a few Academy graduates. Several of the more experienced players left last summer. Whatever transpires between now and the end of the campaign, the groundwork is in place for the next person to step up and fight for honours right away.

That’s why it’s similar to Shankly’s bequest to Paisley and Fagan and Dalglish’s subsequent inheritance. Their immediate success—Paisley won the championship and UEFA Cup in his second season, Fagan won a treble in his first, and Dalglish won the double in less than a year—was proof that they took over winning teams.

However, this time there won’t be a replacement from within, highlighting the unique position that FSG hold at Anfield.

So what standards ought to be set for Liverpool’s next manager?

The success under Klopp would point to a model of someone who has won awards, won a lot of silverware, is willing to stick to a long-term plan, believes the Academy can produce players deserving of a chance to play in the first team, understands the financial model that FSG follows and won’t, at least not in public, question their stance.

There isn’t a single plausible candidate that fulfils every single need, and the number of candidates who satisfy even four of the five choices is minuscule. However, the foundation that Klopp and his coaching staff have built over the years implies that any adjustments made by the new manager would be limited.

Of course, there would be certain issues that needed to be resolved, especially if players like Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Mohamed Salah still hadn’t signed new contracts. Furthermore, a new manager will constantly want to leave his mark on a team as quickly as feasible. However, the new manager won’t have to supervise an overhaul for what may be the first time since Dalglish took charge in the summer of 1985.

Therefore, much experience in the hot seat is not absolutely necessary. And would help to explain why Xabi Alonso, the manager of Bayer Leverkusen, Roberto De Zerbi of Brighton, and Ruben Amorim, the manager of Sporting Lisbon, are among the front-runners. Alonso has a big edge because of his prior ties to Liverpool, in addition to his playing career at Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. He also has a good opportunity of adding trophies to his resume at the end of the season. He would be perfect in so many ways.

For FSG, Klopp was and still is the ideal manager of Liverpool. It is just not possible to find someone who is comparable, but he has made sure that the next best candidate will have an opportunity to succeed as Anfield’s manager.