Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is to leave the club at the conclusion of the season.
Klopp, 56, took over the reigns at Anfield in October 2015 and his deal was expected to run until the summer of 2026.
The German led Liverpool to their first league triumph in 30 years during the 2019-20 season, having won the Champions League- 12 months previously.
“I told the club already in November,” said Klopp, who has announced his decision with his side at the Premier League summit.
“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 an convinced it is the one I 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 and the least I owe you is the truth – and that is the truth.”
Under the German, Liverpool won every major trophy since Klopp came to the club, over eight years ago.
Klopp guided Liverpool to their sixth European Cup success in the summer of 2019 when they beat Tottenham Hotspur in the final in Madrid.
That was then followed up with victory in the UEFA Super Cup against Chelsea and the FIFA Club World Cup, which they won against Brazilian side Flamengo in December 2019, and most importantly, the Premier League title during the COVID-hit 2019/20 campaign.
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 trophies last season but are in contention for four trophies this season. They overcame Fulham on Wednesday to reach the Carabao Cup final, where they’ll take on Chelsea.
“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,” Klopp added.
“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%.”
Assistant managers Pepijn Lijnders and Peter Krawietz, as well as elite development coach Vitor Matos, will also leave their positions at the end of the season, with Liverpool saying that, Lijnders is keen to pursue his own career in management.
Alex Howard Latham Sports Journalism 