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Jürgen Klopp started his new job as Germany coach on Friday, laying out red lines he would consider stepping down on, even before his turnaround effort with a squad that failed yet again at the World Cup.
In a contentious first press conference, the former Liverpool manager warned the German media that he would quit if he believed they were invading his family’s privacy.
He also hinted that Germany could be his last job as a coach and admitted he has not been a keen follower of international matches.
Klopp aims for Euro 2028, 2030 World Cup
Klopp was the German FA’s top target and has now signed a contract until the 2030 World Cup. At his presentation on Friday, he said it was “a great honour” to take the job and signaled it could be his last coaching role.
Klopp said on Friday that he would be prepared to go without any severance pay if that does not work out or if the criticism becomes overwhelming, and threatened to resign if the media did not “leave my family alone.”
“Jürgen Klopp has no career after the national team,” he said. “Ideally, this will be the pinnacle of my career, my life, my working life. I will put everything into it that I possibly can.”
He replaces Julian Nagelsmann, who resigned under heavy criticism after Germany’s loss to Paraguay meant they failed to reach the last 16 of a men’s World Cup for the third consecutive time.
Klopp indicated he believed Nagelsmann and England manager Thomas Tuchel had been treated unfairly in the media. “I’m doing the job, even though I’ve heard how you treated Julian, even though I’ve heard how England treat Tuchel,” he said, without specifying what exactly he thought the problem was.
Klopp wants to make German football ‘cool’ again
It is Klopp’s first coaching job since leaving Liverpool in 2024 due to fatigue. He said he was “charged” in comments while in talks about the German job.
Klopp signaled that he plans to make some surprise squad selections and said his mission is not just to win games but to bring back a buzz around the team.
Klopp himself admitted that “it’s been a while” since he watched national team matches outside of major tournaments.
“I want to create something with the national team that means people go home after the game and think ‘that was really cool’.” That’s what I’d like to see happen,” he said.
Klopp’s arrival follows talks during the World Cup
The man known for thrilling “heavy metal football” at Liverpool, Klopp was Germany’s preferred candidate as soon as Nagelsmann quit.
During weeks of talks, the 59-year-old German – 20 years older than Nagelsmann – ended up in the United States as a World Cup expert for a German-language television station.
The federation also held talks with the Red Bull group, where Klopp has spent the last year and a half as “head of global football” advising his worldwide group of football clubs.
German FA president Bernd Neuendorf said a typical release fee would not be paid to Red Bull for Klopp. Instead, the federation is paying one million euros ($1.14 million) to a Red Bull-affiliated charity and has agreed to host three national team matches in the eastern city of Leipzig, where Red Bull backs the city’s Bundesliga club team.
Klopp faces a tough introduction to his first national team job with four Nations League games in 11 days against the Netherlands, Greece and Serbia in late September and early October. The first major milestone will be the EC in 2028.
Mertesacker joins Klopp in Germany Setup
Germany have not won a knockout match at a World Cup since beating Argentina in the 2014 final. Now a player from that team wants to work with Klopp.
Former defender Per Mertesacker joins Klopp as the association’s new managing director of sport, with a role overseeing the German men’s national teams and an emphasis on bringing players through the youth ranks to star for the senior team. He begins the role in January and joins after eight years running Arsenal’s academy.
Klopp has reunited with two of his assistants from his life at Liverpool, Peter Krawietz and Pep Lijnders, weeks after Lijnders left a role as Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Man City. Former German player Sven Bender also takes an assistant role.
In an unusual arrangement, Klopp’s long-time agent Marc Kosicke will join the coaching staff in a role focused on strategy and administration, but will not be a federation employee.
Report from the Associated Press.
