It is more than 24 hours since Jurgen Klopp stunned the world of football with the news that he was leaving as Liverpool manager at the end of the 2023/24 season.
As the dust begins to settle, here are the key questions that the news threw up.
Why will he be leaving and why now?
Klopp said that he decided to leave at the end of the season because of fatigue.
"It is that I am, how can I say it, running out of energy," he said in the transcript of his interview on the Liverpool website. "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."
Klopp: Why I've made decision to leave Liverpool
He said he decided to leave a couple of months ago when starting to plan for the 2024/25 season. "That means a season starts and you plan pretty much the next season already," he said. "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 any more’ and I was surprised myself by that."
Announcing this decision now, a couple of months after informing the club hierarchy, Klopp felt was necessary otherwise it would have leaked out. "In the world we are living in, it’s not possible to keep things like this secret; it’s maybe a surprise that we could keep it [a secret] until now," he said.
But it gives the club time to prepare a plan for a successor. The Liverpool hierarchy will be also looking for a new sporting director after the departure of Klopp’s fellow German Jorg Schmadtke at the end of the January transfer window was also announced on the same day as Klopp’s decision.
It also gives Klopp's backroom staff, who will be leaving with him, and who will be affected by the departure to prepare ahead of it.
Can the players give him a perfect send-off - or could this disrupt their season?
It’s not the first time Klopp has announced his departure during a season. He revealed he would quit Borussia Dortmund in April 2015 for similar reasons as the club struggled for form. The announcement actually led to an upturn in results to the extent that Klopp said in jest, "If I'd known, I would have announced it at the beginning of the season!"
This time it is vastly different, in that his Liverpool team have turned round a disappointing 2022/23, when they finished fifth, to lead the Premier League table more than midway through the season.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Man City
MCI
|
38 | +62 | 91 |
| 2 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
38 | +62 | 89 |
| 3 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
38 | +45 | 82 |
| 4 |
Aston Villa
AVL
|
38 | +15 | 68 |
| 5 |
Spurs
TOT
|
38 | +13 | 66 |
They are also fighting on three other fronts - they are into the fourth round of the FA Cup, the final of the EFL Cup and the last 16 of the UEFA Europa League - with up to 30 matches remaining.
Klopp’s man-management skills are such that, while his players would have been stunned – a few tears were shed, he admitted – the bond he has created means they won’t be thinking about the next man in charge, rather how they can reward the man who has made them a success.
"There are so many things to play for and there might be some ideas from the outside to disturb what we are doing, but it is all about us," Klopp said. "The way we grew together in the last few years is absolutely exceptional.
"I really want to perform on the highest level and we only get disturbed if we let it happen as a club. I really hope that it will not happen, with the team I am sure that they will be fine."
With four trophies to aim for, there is a good chance that Klopp will depart Anfield having added to his six trophies won.
What next for Klopp?
Having run out of energy, Klopp has said he will take what is a well-deserved break. In his press conference for the FA Cup fourth-round tie with Norwich City on Sunday, Klopp confirmed that he would not change his mind before the end of the season, as Sir Alex Ferguson did in 2002 at Manchester United.
After a break he may rediscover the fire but Klopp ruled out returning to managing a Premier League club that is not Liverpool.
"‘Will you ever work as a manager again?’ I would say now no," he said. "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, 100 per cent. That’s not possible. My love for this club, my respect for the people is too big. I couldn’t. I couldn’t for a second think about it. There’s no chance."
Who will take over from Klopp at Liverpool?
A number of names have been linked by media and fans with the job.
Former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso, who has guided Bayer Leverkusen to the top of the Bundesliga in his first full season in charge, is the name most widely linked.
When asked about it on Friday, the Spaniard said: "At the moment I am really happy here. I still have a big motivation and I am very happy with the club and the team.
"I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future. I don’t really care at the moment."
Other managers closer to home have been widely speculated about in the media. Two are Brighton & Hove Albion’s Roberto De Zerbi and Tottenham Hotspur’s Ange Postecoglou after the success they have delivered in the short time they have been in their roles.
Klopp hailed De Zerbi’s Brighton as one of the best coached teams in the Premier League earlier in the season. Postecoglou, a confirmed Liverpool supporter, has burnished his credentials reviving Spurs in his first campaign there.
Back in Germany, Julian Nagelsmann is another coach mentioned by UK media. The 36-year-old was regarded as one of the most talented coaches in Europe for his spells at Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig, before his star waned at Bayern Munich. He is currently coaching Germany ahead of hosting Euro 2024.
Even though he had known of the decision since November, Liverpool CEO Billy Hogan kept his cards close to his chest in Friday's press conference with Klopp.
"I wouldn't want to set an expectation as it's a process we have to go through," he said. "We have to look through all the information and data, do the due diligence, and then we'll make an announcement. It'll go on in the background.
" I can't put a time on it - it will happen behind the scenes. It's not to be a distraction... it's about the campaign continuing and the team continuing to perform. When we have something to say, we will have something to say at that point."
What shape does he leave Liverpool in?
No matter what happens between his decision and the end of the season, the team that Klopp's successor inherits will be one that is viewed as being on an upward trajectory after their struggles of last season. The manager has reduced the average age of his teams by more than a year, from 28 years and 50 days in the 2021/22 campaign to 27 years and 22 days this season.
In so doing, he has reinvigorated a squad that appeared to be running out of steam this time last year.
"For me it was super, super, super-important that I can help to bring this team back on to the rails," Klopp said yesterday. "It was all I was thinking about."
In the summer he brought in Ryan Gravenberch (now 21 years old), Alexis Mac Allister (25), Dominik Szoboszlai (23) and Wataru Endo (30) after the departures of veterans Jordan Henderson (33), Fabinho (30) and James Milner (38).
"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.
"This team is set up for the future," Klopp said. "When I said Liverpool 2.0, I didn’t mean me for ever. There will be a top manager here and we can play good football.
"It is a wonderful future ahead. That’s all I want. I don’t want to be a passenger disturbing the process."