Jürgen Klopp to step down as Liverpool coach

Premier League club Liverpool has announced that Jürgen Klopp will step down as head coach at the end of the current season after eight-and-a-half years in charge.

The German has been in charge of the "Reds" since 2015, winning six major trophies including the Champions League in 2019 and the club's first Premier League title in 30 years one year later.

Klopp: 'running out of energy'

"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," he told the club's official website, revealing that he made his decision back in November.

"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."

Klopp: from Dortmund to Liverpool

Klopp joined Liverpool from German side Borussia Dortmund, with whom he won two Bundesliga titles (2011 and 2012) and the German Cup. Before that, he had led Mainz 05 to promotion to the Bundesliga.

Current Dortmund coach Edin Terzic praised Klopp as "an outstanding person" and said: "He has shaped our club and Liverpool like no other. I am sure that there will be another station in his coaching life there will be a place where he will do a similarly good job."

Thomas Tuchel, who succeeded Klopp in Dortmund and is now in charge of Bayern Munich, said: "Kloppo is one of the best coaches of all time. He's always managed to influence an entire club at all his clubs. It's huge news."

One of those tipped to succeed Klopp at Anfield is Xabi Alonso, the former Liverpool midfielder and now Bayer Leverkusen head coach who said on Friday: "What Jürgen has achieved in the last nine years in Liverpool deserves huge admiration and respect. But my focus is on Leverkusen. I have huge motivation to work here."

Known for his high-intensity pressing and counter-attacking style of football, Klopp quickly became a popular figure in Liverpool, leading the club through its most successful era since the 1980s.

Liverpool are currently top of the Premier League, five points clear of reigning champions Manchester City, having played one game more. Were Klopp to lead them to a second Premier League this season, it would see Liverpool equal arch rivals Manchester United's record 20 English league titles.

United manager Erik ten Hag said: "Klopp has done a brilliant job in Liverpool. He has led an era in which he rebuilt the club and brought it back where it belongs, and I congratulate him on that. But the Premier League is very intense, so I can understand his decision."

With the second half of the season getting underway, Klopp explained that his decision to step down has been timed to give the club clarity and time to plan for his successor.

"I told the club already in November," he said. "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.

"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 started thinking about it."

Liverpool owners: 'profound appreciation for Jürgen'

Responding to the news, Liverpool's American owners, the Fenway Sports Group (FSG), accepted Klopp's decision, thanked him for his service and underlined the importance of "business as usual" until the end of the season.

"First and foremost, I would like to state our profound appreciation for Jürgen," said FSG president Mike Gordon. "It goes without saying that we will be hugely saddened to lose not just a manager of such caliber, but a person and leader for whom we have enormous respect, gratitude and affection. At the same time, we fully respect his wishes and the reasons why he has decided the current season will be his last at Liverpool.

"Our priority now is two-fold. First, to ensure that the progress that has been made on the pitch this season is maintained in the final months of the campaign. Second, to continue the due diligence behind the scenes which will allow our football operations department to adapt to a future without Jürgen."

German national team next up for Klopp?

Given his comments about "running out of energy,"  it now seems plausible that Klopp will opt to take some time out of professional football, before embarking on any further challenges.

Back in his native Germany, however, he has always been viewed as a potential candidate to become national team coach.

The position is currently held by Julian Nagelsmann, but only until the European Championship in Germany this summer. After that, the German Football Association (DFB) will be on the lookout for a permanent replacement.

mf/wmr (AFP, dpa)