Jurgen Klopp explains decision to leave Liverpool: ‘I am running out of energy’

Jurgen Klopp has explained why he has made the shock decision to leave Liverpool this season.

The German, 56, announced the stunning news on Friday morning after nearly nine trophy-laden years at Anfield.

Klopp has won every club trophy possible during his time at Liverpool – but will stand down in the summer and explained his decision to supporters in a 25-minute interview on the club website.

“It is that I am, how can I say it, running out of energy,” he said.

“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. That’s it, pretty much.”

Elaborating on his first answer, Klopp said: “I am OK. I am healthy, as much as you can [be] at my age. Little bits and bobs, stuff like that, but nothing anybody has to be concerned about, so that’s absolutely fine.

“I told the club already in November. I have to explain a little bit that maybe the job I do people see from the outside, I’m on the touchline and in training sessions and stuff like this, but the majority of all the things happen around these kind of things.

“That means a season starts and you plan pretty much the next season already. 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 anymore’ and I was surprised myself by that.

“I obviously start thinking about it. 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.

“For me it was super, super, super-important that I can help to bring this team back onto 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 per cent right. That’s it.”