Jürgen Klopp to Leave Liverpool After Season, Says He’s ‘Running out of Energy’

Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp will leave the club at the end of the 2023-24 season, he announced on Friday.

“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,” Klopp said.

“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.”

LeBron James, who owns a stake in Liverpool through Fenway Sports Group, sent a message of appreciation to Klopp on Friday:

Klopp joined Liverpool in 2015 after a successful stint at Borussia Dortmund. He led the club to a Champions League title in 2019 and won the Premier League in 2020. Liverpool currently has a five-point lead in the EPL table.

Before Klopp’s arrival, Liverpool had not won a league crown since 1989-90.

Klopp is not calling his decision to step away a retirement, though he said he does not anticipate managing again at this time. He said he will never coach a different English club.

“If you ask me now if I will ever manage again? I would say no,” Klopp said. “But you don’t know obviously as I’ve never had this situation. But I do know definitely I will never manage a different club in England than Liverpool. It is impossible.

“I will find something else to do. But I will not manage a club or country for at least a year.”

Klopp first informed Liverpool management of his decision in November because he did not want to blindside the club as it was preparing for next season. He said he was motivated to return after a “difficult” 2022-23 campaign in order to get Liverpool “back on the rails” so he could leave the team better than he found it.

Liverpool finished no worse than third in the EPL table in four straight seasons before a fifth-place finish last year.

Klopp’s contract was set to end in 2026. Liverpool’s ownership, Fenway Sports Group, released a statement saying the club will wait until the end of this season to begin a coaching search and it will be “business as usual” for the remainder of the campaign.