Former Liverpool midfielder Jason McAteer has said he "would not be surprised" if Jurgen Klopp quit Anfield before his contract expires because of fears over burnout.
Klopp signed a new long-term deal with the Reds in December that runs through until the end of the 2023-24 campaign.
The German will go down as one of the club's all-time great managers after steering them to Champions League and Club World Cup glory over the past 12 months.
A maiden Premier League trophy also now seems inevitable as Liverpool have a 16-point lead at the top with a game in hand to play, but McAteer believes the work Klopp is putting in could take its toll.
"He has a team around him, Melwood is locked down, you can't get into it. It's the hub," he is quoted as saying by The Mirror.
"It wouldn't surprise me [if he walked away], it wouldn't surprise me at all. I just think there's burnout.
"He can't move. He can't go out the hotel, he's meeting potential partners, he's going to dinners, they're putting things on, it's constant.
"The partnership side of the club, when they come in and they want something, they want to get their name out there, who do they put on the front?"
McAteer represented Liverpool for four years before leaving for Blackburn Rovers in 1999.
Daniel Lewis
