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Jurgen Klopp announces shock decision to resign from Liverpool at end of season

The unexpected announcement comes days after the Reds reached the Carabao Cup final

Karl Matchett
Friday 26 January 2024 11:46 GMT
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Jurgen Klopp announces he's leaving Liverpool FC

Liverpool have announced that Jurgen Klopp is to resign as manager and depart the club at the end of the 2023/24 campaign.

The German boss arrived at Anfield in 2015 and has reestablished the club as a domestic and European force, reaching three Champions League finals since then - winning one - as well as winning the Premier League title in 2020.

FOLLOW LIVE: Reaction and latest news as Jurgen Klopp resigns as Liverpool boss

His departure is all the more unexpected as he embarked on a rebuild of the playing squad over the summer, with Liverpool currently sat top of the league table, into the Carabao Cup final and potentially on course for a four-trophy tilt as they continue in the Europa League and FA Cup as well.

“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,” he said in a statement on the club website.

“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 confirmed that assistant managers Pepijn Lijnders and Peter Krawietz will also leave in summer, with the former likely to resume his own head coaching career. Vitor Matos will also depart the club.

Owners Fenway Sports Group insist it will be “business as usual” until the end of the current campaign, with a twofold priority to “ensure that the progress that has been made on the pitch this season is maintained in the final months of the campaign” while also continuing “due diligence behind the scenes which will allow our football operations department to adapt to a future without Jurgen.”

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