Jurgen Klopp has announced he will stand down as Borussia Dortmund coach at the end of the season after seven years in charge and two German league titles.
The 47-year-old had a contract until 2018, but asked to be released early after a poor series of league results left Dortmund bottom of the table in February before climbing to their current position of tenth.
Dortmund have already said there will be no quick announcement concerning his successor as the hunt begins for a new head coach.
“I always said in that moment where I believe I am not the perfect coach anymore for this extraordinary club, I will say so,” Klopp told a press conference on Wednesday.
He added: “I believe this is the right decision at the right time.
“I have not had any contact with any other clubs, nor have I any plans to take a year off.
“I just wanted to make my decision known now so that the club can plan for the future.
“I chose this time to announce it, because in the last few years, some player decisions were made late and there was no time to react,” he added in reference to Mario Goetze’s shock departure to Bayern Munich in April 2013.
Klopp earned his place in Dortmund folklore by becoming the first coach in Borussia’s history to win the german double of domestic league and cup titles in 2012, when they trashed Bayern 5-2 in the Berlin cup final.
He steered Dortmund to the 2013 Champions League final, when they lost 2-1 at Wembley to Bayern, having won the 2011 and 2012 German league titles.
Klopp turned Dortmund from a mid-table side on his arrival into Bundesliga champions.
In his first season they finished sixth, then fifth in 2009/10 before winning the league title for the next two years as they briefly usurped Bayern as Germany’s top club.
Klopp forged the careers of several Dortmund stars including current Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski, who left Borussia last season, as well as Germany’s World Cup winners Mats Hummels, Mario Goetze and Kevin Grosskreutz.
He revealed he had not told the team before the press conference and said his goal for his six last remaining league matches is to finish as high up the table as possible.
“We still have a lot of work to do now. This is a decision for next season and we’ll concentrate on finishing this season now,” Klopp said.
“I had no problems with any of the players, but I believe Borussia Dortmund needs a change.
AZ_RBB
Guest
Hope this doesn't hurt Langerak or Amini.
Constance
Roar Pro
He has taken the club as far as he could with the resources he had, the bad thing about this announcement all the good players left from Dortmund might leave Klopp was the only reason most of them still with the club
elrollo
Guest
bad luck BVB, pretty much a poachers dream.
nordster
Guest
Was on the cards, i still reckon they were all running dead for the first half of the league to give Klopp, Hummels and Reus an easy out in the summer....preceded by a heroes finish to a european spot... Reus even renewed his deal the other month to ensure maximus coinage on departure... Just the sort of package twink to get Man City all wet down below....will be great to see Klopp in the epl...