Fabrizio Romano has confirmed that Gian Piero Gasperini is currently not in the running for the Liverpool manager’s job.

The 66-year-old earned surprise links following Atalanta’s impressive 3-0 win over the Reds in the Europa League.

“Gian Piero Gasperini will have raised some eyebrows yesterday when he addressed rumours about him being in contention for the Liverpool job. He spoke at his press conference ahead of the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final with the Reds, saying: ‘Of course I am happy with links to Liverpool job to replace Klopp but my focus is on the game’,” the Guardian reporter told CaughtOffside.

“For sure, Gasperini has done a fantastic job at Atalanta in recent times so I’m not too surprised that, after beating Liverpool in such a convincing way with that 3-0 win at Anfield last week, there is some media speculation about him possibly replacing Klopp, but there’s nothing more to it than that.

“I can say that there’s nothing at all between Gasperini and Liverpool from what I know. I think these are links just generated by Atalanta’s super game vs Liverpool at Anfield, that’s it. As for other clubs, again there will always be links, but for now I see him staying at Atalanta.”

The Merseysiders face the Serie A outfit in Bergamo tonight, with a reaction required after a dismal 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace.

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The contenders for the Liverpool job

As things currently stand, Ruben Amorim appears to remain the frontrunner to succeed Jurgen Klopp in the Liverpool post.

Whilst Gasperini’s set-up in Merseyside most certainly deserves plaudits, we’d be surprised if the Italian entered Richard Hughes’ considerations based on one result.

Far more likely are the options of Roberto De Zerbi and Julian Nagelsmann. However, that is, of course, only an eventuality should the former Braga coach remain in Lisbon.

In the meantime, we’d be surprised if Gasperini’s performances didn’t bring him into consideration at other top outfits.

EOTK Insider with Neil Jones: Niko Kovac rumours, what if Amorim stays at Sporting? Summer contract calls, Crystal Palace review and much more!

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Liverpool remain on the hunt for a new manager, with plenty of names having been touted as potential successors to Jurgen Klopp.

However, Serie A expert James Horncastle believes that one man who hasn’t been ‘talked about’ in relation to the Reds job is being erroneously overlooked.

He was at Anfield on Thursday night to witness Atalanta romp to a 3-0 win, and he claimed that the coach responsible for masterminding that eye-catching result ought to be ‘in the conversation’ for openings at Europe’s biggest clubs.

Speaking on TNT Sports, Horncastle said: “There’s a big vacancy here in the summer, and Gian Piero Gasperini doesn’t get talked about. Over eight years, he’s probably punched above his weight per his resources more than any other coach. I think he should be in the conversation for more of these jobs.”

The 66-year-old has indeed worked wonders during his eight years in charge of Atalanta, taking them from a modest mid-table outfit to a team consistently qualifying for Europe, including three successive third-place finishes and a run to the Champions League quarter-finals in 2020.

Last night was his second time winning away to Liverpool, having also done so three seasons ago, and his work in making a relatively modest budget go very far could actually make him quite suitable to the job at Anfield.

Whether he’d opt for such a move at this stage of his managerial career is another matter, but we can definitely see why Horncastle is championing the case for Gasperini.

You can view the pundit’s comments in full below, via @footballontnt on X:

"They've normalised the extraordinary!"@JamesHorncastle discusses Gian Piero Gasperini's incredible work at Atalanta…

@julesbreach pic.twitter.com/IYOvjlutjH

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) April 11, 2024

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Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini believes beating Liverpool may be his side’s ‘biggest every victory’ after an honestly deserved result at the home of the Premier League champions.

The Reds were simply not at the races in the Champions League on Wednesday night, but the Italians defended well and took their chances when they broke on the counter-attack.

It was like watching the plucky Liverpool team from a few years ago just beginning to understand Jurgen Klopp’s philosophy, as they allowed us time on the ball and made us pay when they won it back.

Speaking after the game, Gasperini said their historic victory is perhaps Atalanta’s biggest ever, but confirmed that if nothing else it’s the most ‘prestigious’ win they’ve earned.

“Obviously this is something which will be written in the pages of history,” the Italian boss is quoted as saying by the Liverpool Echo.

“It is a shame there wasn’t a crowd present, obviously this is a stadium that everyone is aware of its history, it is a part of the history of football.

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“[Liverpool] haven’t lost a Premier League game in 64 [home] matches. This is perhaps our biggest ever victory in our history, certainly our most prestigious.

“These victories allow you to grow and develop and improve.”

You can’t take anything away from them, Atalanta were the better team at Anfield on Wednesday night and they deserve to leave Merseyside with all three points.

It should be noted the Italians are one of the best attacking sides in Europe right now, so any delusions held after the 5-0 win in Bergamo should now have a been quashed.

Liverpool now need to pick up three points from the last two games to qualify by their own hand for the knockout stages of the Champions League, with fixtures against Ajax and Midtjylland forthcoming.

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