Our players will decide the league champion not the managers.

Jurgen Klopp has insisted it will be the players and not the managers who will determine who ends the campaign as Premier League champions.

The arrival of Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola and Chelsea’s Antonio Conte, both hugely successful on the continent, has ramped up the excitement ahead of a term where Jose Mourinho will also hold the reins at Manchester United.

Klopp belongs alongside them in that upper echelon of managers having won trophies with Borussia Dortmund but while he acknowledges the excitement surrounding those in charge, he insists they can only have so much impact on what happens between the white lines.

“The best thing is we don’t play,” he said.

“It’s exciting for everybody having these big names in the league. But if they all have only one aim then there can be only one who is really lucky.

“It’s England, managers obviously have a more, in public, special role than maybe in other countries. It’s one part of the performance but not more.

“We still all have to play and work. It’s not about the names, it’s all about the performance on the pitch. That’s what I’m looking forward to – the opportunity to win something.”