Jurgen Klopp has informed Liverpool FCTV that he will leave the club at the end of this season after admitting he is struggling with his energy for the job
The 56-year-old informed the club’s ownership of his decision to stand down, having taken charge at Liverpool in 2015.
Klopp who won six trophies with the club, including the Premier League title in 2020 and the Champions League trophy the year before, will hold a press conference at 3pm on Friday.
“I will leave the club at the end of the season,” Klopp said in an emotional video posted by the club. “I understand that it’s a shock.”
Klopp said he had told the club’s bosses about his intention to stand down back in November 2023.
Former Liverpool midfielder and current Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso has been installed as the early frontrunner to replace Klopp.
“This news was always going to be a body blow to the club whenever it came,” responded Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher. “I just thought it would be another few years away. What a manager, what a man, let’s go out with a bang Jurgen!”
Following the news he will leave Liverpool at the end of the season, rewind back to 2015 when Jurgen Klopp gave his first press conference as Liverpool manager
Liverpool currently topped the Premier League and reached the Carabao Cup final in midweek, while they are still in the Europa League and the FA Cup.
Klopp signed a two-year extension to his contract at Anfield in April 2022, which was scheduled to keep him at the club until 2026.
He was appointed Liverpool manager in succession to Brendan Rodgers in October 2015, having forged his reputation at Borussia Dortmund.
During his spell at Dortmund, the club won back-to-back Bundesliga titles in 2011 and 2012 and he took them to the 2013 Champions League final, where they lost to Bayern Munich at Wembley.
“I have to explain a little bit that maybe the job I do people see from the outside, I’m on the touchline and in training sessions and stuff like this, but the majority of all the things happen around these kind of things. That means a season starts and you plan pretty much the next season already,” he told the club’s website.
“When we sat there together talking about potential signings, the next summer camp and can we go wherever, the thought came up, ‘I am not sure I am here then anymore’ and I was surprised myself by that. I obviously start thinking about it.”
Klopp admitted that given the Reds’ struggles last season, he may not have lasted the campaign at another club.
“Last season was kind of a super-difficult season and there were moments when at other clubs probably the decision would have been, ‘Come on, thank you very much for everything but probably we should split here, or end it here’ That didn’t happen here, obviously,” he added.
“For me it was super, super, super-important that I can help to bring this team back on to the rails. It was all I was thinking about. When I realised pretty early that happened, it’s a really good team with massive potential and a super age group, super characters and all that, then I could start thinking about myself again and that was the outcome. It is not what I want to [do], it is just what I think is 100 per cent right.”
Klopp has also ruled out coaching another team in England.
“If you ask me, ‘Will you ever work as a manager again?’ I would say now no,” he added. “But I don’t know obviously how that will feel because I never had the situation. What I know definitely – I will never, ever manage a different club in England than Liverpool.”
Meanwhile, Mike Gordon, the Fenway Sports Group president, praised Klopp’s impact at the club, noting, “I would like to take this opportunity to place on record our gratitude to Jürgen for everything he has done and continues to do for Liverpool Football Club. Thank you, Jürgen. When the time comes, you will never walk alone.
“[We will] continue the due diligence behind the scenes which will allow our football ops department to adapt to a future without Jurgen. These ambitions will be pursued in the best interests of the club and its supporters and we will update fans as and when significant developments are made.”
Klopp’s backroom team of Pepijn Lijnders, Peter Krawietz and Vitor Matos are all also set to leave Liverpool at the end of the season.
Explaining leaving Liverpool, Klopp said, “I can understand that it’s a shock for a lot of people in this moment, when you hear it for the first time, but obviously I can explain it – or at least try to explain it.
“I love absolutely everything about this club, I love everything about the city, I love everything about our supporters, I love the team, I love the staff. I love everything. But that I still take this decision shows you that I am convinced it is the one I have to take.
“It is that I am, how can I say it, running out of energy. I have no problem now, obviously, I knew it already for longer that I will have to announce it at one point, but I am absolutely fine now. I know that I cannot do the job again and again and again and again.
“After the years we had together and after all the time we spent together and after all the things we went through together, the respect grew for you, the love grew for you and the least I owe you is the truth – and that is the truth.”
