By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
In an unexpected announcement, Jurgen Klopp will step down as Liverpool Football Club manager at the end of the season after almost eight years in charge.
Klopp was appointed in October 2015 and his contract was due to run until 2026.
He won the Champions League in 2019 before leading Liverpool to their first league title in 30 years in 2019-20.
Klopp told the Liverpool website: “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.
Following the recent high-profile departures of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Jordan Henderson, Klopp has rebuilt his squad with a number of shrewd additions who have flourished this term.
The Reds, who advanced the Carabao Cup final in midweek, remain in contention to win four trophies and currently sit top of the Premier League following last Sunday’s resounding 4-0 win at Bournemouth.