Jurgen Klopp says Freedom of Liverpool is a wow moment

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has said being nominated for the city's highest honour was "definitely a wow moment".

Liverpool City Council will recommend conferring the freedom of the city on the German at an upcoming meeting.

He said being put forward was "very humbling" and meant the bond he had with the city would "stay forever".

Actress Sue Johnston, who starred in The Royle Family, Downton Abbey and Brookside, will also be nominated for the same honour at the meeting.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said Klopp would be joining Liverpool legends Sir Kenny Dalglish and Steve Gerrard in receiving the honour.

The honour was also posthumously awarded to 96 victims of the Hillsborough disaster in 2016 and to the 97th victim of the tragedy, Andrew Devine, five years later.

Klopp said he "knew a little bit" about the honour from when it was conferred on Mr Devine, who he described as "someone who we all had an enormous amount of love for, along with the other 96 victims of Hillsborough".

"I also know that Sir Kenny has received the freedom of the city previously, so if my name is listed alongside those and all of the other recipients, that makes the honour even more special," he said.

"I have to be honest, when I first heard this news I had to take a minute to take it in.

"As you can imagine, I get a lot of different types of news in my job, but this was definitely a wow moment."

He added that it felt special because of what "Liverpool, the city and its wonderful people, mean to me and my family".

"The welcome that we have been given has been unbelievable from the word go, so to get this kind of recognition is incredible.

"It is also very humbling."

Under Klopp's reign, Liverpool have entered into a new era of success, reaching three Champions League finals and winning the club's sixth European Cup.

His crowning glory came in 2020, when he guided the Reds to a first Premier League title, 30 years after the club had last lifted top division honours.

Fellow nominee Johnson, who was born in Warrington and grew up in Prescot, found fame alongside Ricky Tomlinson as Brookside's Sheila Grant and will join the show's creator Sir Philip Redmond on the roll of honour at Liverpool Town Hall.

She later played Tomlinson's wife again in a much-loved role as Barbara Royle in the critically-acclaimed The Royle Family.

She was made an OBE in the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours for her services to drama and charity.

Councillors will also considered a proposal to grant HMS Prince of Wales admission to the Freedom Roll of Associations and Institutions.

The Royal Navy's newest aircraft carrier, which was commissioned in 2019, is affiliated to the city and visited in 2020, welcoming 20,000 people on board for visits.

The city's lord mayor Roy Gladden said the nominees "represent three aspects of Liverpool life that are close to our hearts - sport, culture and the armed forces".

"It will be an honour to formally thank them for their hard work, commitment and service," he said.

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