Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho says he cannot consider Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp his friend due to a lack of time spent together.
The two managers are set to meet for the 13th time on Thursday when Liverpool play Spurs in what could be a crucial Premier League clash.
While Mourinho says he has huge respect for Klopp, the Tottenham head coach says he has not spent enough time with the former Dortmund manager to consider him a friend.
Pointing to his personal history with Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo, who played under Mourinho at Porto, and Brendan Rodgers, who was a coach at Chelsea, he says it is only possible to become friends with managers after a long period of time together.
He said: “I’m not a friend of Jurgen as I never had time with Jurgen. “Nuno, he was my player. Brendan worked in my club for a couple of years together.
“So when you have something in common, when you know the person well, you can say ‘I like him, he’s my friend’ or ‘I don’t like him, he’s not my friend’.
“With Jurgen, it’s five minutes before a match, five minutes after a match. “What can I say about Jurgen?
“He’s a colleague that I respect, that I don’t have any problem with. He’s the same with me, no problems at all.”
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Klopp has a good record against Mourinho in their 12 games against each other, winning six of them – including December’s win over Spurs at Anfield. Meanwhile, the Spurs boss has two victories, with the other four matches being draws.
