LAST UPDATE | 15 hrs ago

JURGEN KLOPP HAS promised Liverpool fans he will never manage another English club after he leaves Anfield in the summer “even if he has nothing to eat”.

The 56-year-old German has shocked the football world by announcing he will stand down as Reds boss after nearly nine years in charge at the end of the season, having steered the club to six major trophies including the Premier League title in 2020 and the Champions League in 2019.

At a press conference today he also:

• Said he would play no part in choosing his successor.
• Insisted he would not make a U-turn on his decision to quit as Alex Ferguson once did at Manchester United.
• Talked about how he could not sustain the energy levels needed for top-level management beyond this season, insisting “you have to be the best version of yourself”.

“Whatever will happen in the future I don’t know now, but no club, no country, for the next year, and no other English club ever,” he said at a press conference on this afternoon.

“I can promise that, even if I have nothing to eat that will not happen.”

Speculation has already turned to who could succeed Klopp at Anfield, with Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso – a former Reds midfielder – installed as the early bookmakers’ favourite.

Alonso said his focus was solely on his current role and that he was in “the right place” but did not rule anything out. Former Reds captain Steven Gerrard, currently with Saudi Arabian side Al Ettifaq, has also been linked.

Klopp insists he will have no input whatsoever to Liverpool’s recruitment process to find his successor.

“The last thing they need is advice from the old man walking out, telling them ‘make sure you bring him in’ or whatever – I will definitely not do that,” Klopp said.

“I wish this club the very, very, very best.”

Klopp was asked whether there was anything that might change his mind and encourage him to stay, in the way former Manchester United manager Ferguson went back on his decision to retire at the end of the 2001-02 season.

“No, nothing,” he insisted.

“I respect Sir Alex a lot, I don’t know what drove him that time. I want to win everything this season, but it wouldn’t change my mind. And if we don’t win anything it wouldn’t change my mind. It’s a decision I made independent of any kind of results.”

Klopp had admitted in an in-house interview published earlier on Friday that he was stepping down in the summer because he could feel he was running out of energy, and insisted it could not be his style to offer anything other than 100 per cent commitment.

“You have to be the best version of yourself, especially for a club like Liverpool,” he said.

“I cannot do it on three wheels, it’s just not allowed. I never wanted to be a passenger in all that.”

Jürgen Klopp has announced his decision to step down as #LFC manager at the end of the season, having informed the club’s ownership of his wish to leave his position in the summer.

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) January 26, 2024

Klopp was appointed Liverpool manager in succession to Brendan Rodgers in October 2015, having forged his reputation at Borussia Dortmund.

Under him, Dortmund won back-to-back Bundesliga titles in 2011 and 2012 and he took them to the 2013 Champions League final, where they lost to Bayern Munich at Wembley.

A message to Liverpool supporters from Jürgen Klopp. pic.twitter.com/l7rtmxgOzt

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) January 26, 2024

Klopp said he had told the club’s bosses about his intention to stand down back in November last year.

“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,” he told the club’s website.

“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.”

Klopp also admitted that given the Reds’ struggles last season, he may not have lasted the campaign at another club.

“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,” he added.

“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.”

Klopp said he expected supporters of other clubs would use his departure as an excuse to “laugh at” and “disturb” Liverpool, but called on everyone connected to the club to push for a glorious finale to the season.

“Let’s now really go for it. The outside world want to use this decision, laugh about it, want to disturb us,” he said.

“We are Liverpool, we went through harder things together. And you went through harder things before me. Let’s make a strength of it. That would be really cool. Let’s squeeze everything out of this season and have another thing to smile about when we look back in the future.”