Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is to step down from the role at the end of the season, saying he is “running out of energy”.
Klopp was appointed in October 2015 and his contract was due to run until 2026.
“I told the club already in November,” said Klopp, who has announced his decision with his side top of the Premier League.
“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.”
Liverpool have won every major honour since the 56-year-old German took charge of the Reds.
Klopp guided Liverpool to their sixth European Cup in 2019 when they beat Tottenham in the Champions League final in Madrid.
They followed that up with victory in the Uefa Super Cup and the Fifa Club World Cup and, most significantly, the Premier League title the following season.
Liverpool won a domestic cup double in the 2021-22 season, and narrowly missed out on a quadruple as they were pipped by Manchester City on the final day of the Premier League season and lost the Champions League final to Real Madrid in Paris.
The Reds failed to win any major silverware last season but are in contention for four trophies this term. They beat Fulham on Wednesday to reach the Carabao Cup final.
“It didn’t start [then], but of course 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,” added Klopp.
“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%.”
Liverpool assistant managers Pepijn Lijnders and Peter Krawietz, as well as elite development coach Vitor Matos, will leave the club along with Klopp.
Source : BBC
