Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool close to immortality – but their lasting legacy is already painted across Merseyside – Liverpool Echo

This is a Liverpool squad that has become immortalised in its own time. A town that has been painted red.

The current champions of Europe remain firmly on course to end a three-decade wait for an English league title, with a 22-point advantage at the summit leaving them just a half-dozen victories away from a sizeable slice of modern history.

Jurgen Klopp and his teak-tough band of brothers are the talk of the town, with the eternal chatter from the Red half of the city largely surrounding this current crop's place in the pantheon of all-time Liverpool greats.

Where they sit among the sides sculptured and shaped by Bob Paisley, Bill Shankly et al, will one day make for one of the healthiest of Merseyside football debates.

In the here and now, though, there are medals to be won and trophies to be lifted.

Liverpool have veered only slightly so far throughout what has been remarkable campaign; just two Premier League points dropped with the Reds still in the hunt for both the Champions League and the FA Cup.

Their impact and influence, however, stretches beyond the regular confines of football fandom. To many, Klopp and the players at his disposal have already become icons, whatever happens between now, May - and the rest of the decade.

As world and European champions, this current squad have sent the levels of pride among the fanbase soaring to levels rarely seen across the club's 128-year history.

As such, Liverpool's players and their charismatic coach remain omnipresent throughout a city that boasts just as much civic pride as it does in its sporting accomplishments.

Take a stroll through the burgeoning Baltic Triangle area of the city centre and you will be confronted by a giant mural in homage to Klopp. It has become the coolest tourist attraction around - even for locals - since its inception in December 2018.

The likability factor of the affable Klopp, coupled with his sometimes underrated acumen as one of the sharpest tactical minds in football, has helped Liverpool to the brink of domestic glory once more.

No other manager has come as close as Klopp as to ending a wait for league title No.19 and after guiding the club to a sixth European Cup last year, his place as an Anfield great is already safe and secure. The German even has a sports bar named in his honour in the city centre.

French graffiti artist Akse has painted some of the most recognisable faces on the planet onto various walls across the world. From Bob Marley and David Bowie through to Martin Luther King and Muhammad Ali, the breathtaking artist's work always catches the eye.

The same applies to the likeness of Liverpool's manager, which can be found on Jamaica Street.

Commissioned by the club itself, Klopp's image was the first time Akse had painted a manager of the game, despite his ample experience of football-themed street art that include Wayne Rooney, Harry Maguire and Juan Mata.

"You really can feel the love from the fans [for Klopp]," he tells the ECHO. "Each time I go back to the wall, there are always fans from all around the world taking pictures with the mural.

"As an artist you get very attached to the pieces you paint on a personal level. Each piece has its own story: from the choice of the subject, the selection of the reference image, the preparation of the mural and the painting process."

The Klopp piece took two days to complete and was not without its weather-related technical issues, but for Akse - the artist who also produced the Trent Alexander-Arnold piece last year - his hard labour merely shines further light on the positive role models who are his subject matter.

He adds: "These murals pay tribute to the outstanding achievements of the subjects and the fans recognise that. After painting the Jurgen Klopp and Trent murals, I received a lot of requests from LFC fans to paint other players so its really a testament to how much they mean to them.

"[The Alexander-Arnold] mural is also dedicated to Fans Supporting Foodbanks so it brings fans together to fight food poverty in Liverpool. This is why I love doing street art, it can have such a positive impact in the community on so many levels."

Discreetly tucked away down a city-centre backstreet is an 'Ode to Mo' - a celebration of Liverpool's Egyptian King himself, Mohamed Salah.

As the poster-boy for football in his homeland, Salah carries the weight of expectation of his 90million compatriots and his rise at Anfield has catapulted him into the realms of global superstardom.

Magazine covers and lucrative endorsements have followed for a player who has become something of a pop culture phenomenon during his two-and-a-half years as a Liverpool employee.

Guy McKinley was the artist who sketched Salah's face on a wall midway down Basnett Street, creating a six-metre-by-three painting paying tribute to the Liverpool hero, bringing an otherwise nondescript collection of brickwork to life in the process.

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Created just before the 2018 Champions League final, thanks to the work from local company RRUNews, Guy's art was accompanied by the words of poet Musa Okwonga, hailing the "golden smile of the nile."

"Mo is more than just a good footballer, he is a role model to lots of people from varying backgrounds," Guy told the ECHO. "He brings divergent people together which is always good.

"This was important to the piece as a whole, putting the image alongside Musas words and then interacting with the locals for the accompanying film, all helped highlight how well he is received by the local community too.

"That was the concept rather than just a mural of Mo Salah, it was a chance to open debate too. I dont think he is just a hero in Egypt now, he seems huge everywhere by what I have seen.

"From the outside looking at him, he seems to be a very positive person and is such a benefit to the team and city.

"I had kids come over to me while I was painted telling me how important it was that he is seen as this positive influence and thanking me for painting it, which was very touching.

"Appealing to people in a number of ways certainly helps cement his status among the whole family of Liverpool FC fans from all over the world."

This is about more than just a good football team; the current Liverpool squad have allowed even the most gnarled supporter a chance to remind themselves why they fell in love with the sport.

Beyond their accomplishments on the pitch, their willingness to embrace the supporters who lionise them is a constant theme throughout the squad.

Perhaps few embody that more than Trent Alexander-Arnold, whose rise from Academy hopeful to Ballon d'Or nominee has been sharp. In under four years, the West Derby-born, lifelong Liverpool supporter has become one of the world's most valuable defenders.

Cherished by locals, the 21-year-old's appearance was painted, three-storeys high, on to a home at the corner of Sybil Street and Anfield Road - just an Alexander-Arnold cross from where the Reds star has stamped his mark on the game he loves since his debut in October 2016.

The mural was arranged by the Anfield Wrap, a popular fan podcast with subscribers in over 80 countries, as a way to commemorate an incredible season that ended with Alexander-Arnold lifting the Champions League trophy.

Alexander-Arnold, though, represents more than just a great player being adored by a club's fans. He is a Steven Gerrard for the Millennium, a homegrown hero living the idyllic dream of thousands of other Liverpool-born football followers.

"I was trying to think of something we could do to celebrate the players' achievements," says Craig Hannan of the Anfield Wrap. "And it was the BT Sport clip after the game of Alexander-Arnold saying: 'I'm just a normal lad from Liverpool whose dreams have just come true'.

"He is a footballer who has lived all our dreams, coming through the youth system, lifting the European Cup - everything made sense for him. That is where the idea came about. He is not just his achievements on the pitch, it is what he has done off it too.

"He is a local lad and done loads of work for foodbanks and An Hour For Others, so it all just made sense. This is a local lad who has won the Champions League but also a grounded 21-year-old who gives back and hasn't forgotten where he has come from.

Paul Gorst is the ECHO's new full-time LFC correspondent covering the Reds both home and away.

He'll be across all the biggest stories both on and off the pitch and is a must follow for fans worldwide.

Paul can be found on Twitter @ptgorst, Facebook @ptgorst and Instagram @PaulGorst.

You can email Paul at paul.gorst@reachplc.com.

"We chose him for the wall, but in actual fact, when you look through the whole team, we wanted to celebrate the fact that these are footballers that stand for a lot and believe in a lot. You can see the continuous work they do in the city for charity. For Trent, we all see a bit ourselves in him.

"In a city like Liverpool, it is great that we can feel that connection with the players. There hasn't always been an obvious relationship with the players and the fans over the years, but with the likes of Andy Robertson and Trent and the rest, their values seem to be in line with us as fans.

"It is not just about them playing 90 minutes and then we don't see them, it is about them helping out in the local community. Even the kind of content the club put out, we get a great understanding of what they are like as people."

The Alexander-Arnold mural was unveiled days before the current Premier League season kicked off in August to help raise awareness for Fans Supporting Foodbanks - a cause the Anfield Wrap have championed for some time.

Craig adds: "They are giving us the best experiences of our lives right now and are also doing their bit off the pitch too.

"We are really proud of what we have been able to do [with the mural]. It was great that Trent came down to see it but the biggest thing is it is helping a cause we want to give as much coverage as possible to. But to see him on the wall and people flocking to see it is the biggest thing for us.

"For example, if one person a game sees it and looks into Fans Supporting Foodbanks more to donate then it has done its job. Also, we can celebrate a young lad like Trent who is someone who is inspiring kids every day.

"We're really proud of it and we love that Trent loves it and it has become a landmark to inspire kids in the area to show them what can be achieved. That is a brilliant thing."

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Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool close to immortality - but their lasting legacy is already painted across Merseyside - Liverpool Echo