Jamie Carragher and Gary Lineker lead tributes for Jurgen Klopp after Liverpool boss announces he will leave at end of season

Jamie Carragher and Gary Lineker have shared their reaction to the shock news that Jurgen Klopp will leave Liverpool at the end of the season.

After spending nine years in the Premier League, the German boss revealed he is ‘running out of energy’ and it is the right time to leave.

It comes after a spell that has seen him cement his name in the club’s history by winning the Premier League, Champions League, the FA Cup and Carabao Cup. He is the only Reds manager to have lifted all four cups during his time at the club.

Writing on X, former Liverpool player and pundit Carragher wrote: ‘This news was always going to be a body blow to the club whenever it came.

‘I just thought it would be another few years away. What a manager, what a man, let’s go out with a bang Jurgen!’

Gary Lineker and Jamie Carragher have led tributes for Jurgen Klopp after his announcement

Former Liverpool player Jamie Carragher thought Klopp would not retire ‘for a few years’

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Gary Lineker added: ‘Wow. Huge news. What an incredible job he’s done. A special @RestIsFootball podcast will be with you this afternoon.’

Also taking to social media, one Liverpool fan said: ‘I’m in shock. We knew the day would come. Devastating. What a manager. What a man.’

Poll

Who should replace Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool manager?

• Xabi Alonso 10157 votes
• Pep Lijnders 962 votes
• Steven Gerrard 2459 votes
• Roberto De Zerbi 1062 votes
• Julian Nagelsmann 578 votes
• Other 1408 votes

Another added: ‘Bro. I’m lost for words. Low-key heartbroken. I need a minute,’ while a third said: ‘Nothing lasts forever. Even so, best leave me alone today. YNWA.’

A fourth wrote on X: ‘Devastated as a fan. Gutted for the club. But Jurgen – you have been the best of us. I am so proud you have been our manager and I wish you nothing but good things in your normal life ahead. Whatever you choose to do you will be extraordinary.’ 

Klopp’s assistants Pep Lijnders and Peter Krawietz will also leave in the summer – with the former looking to move into management.

In a statement, Klopp said: ‘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. 

A look at some of the fan reaction from Liverpool supporters to the news of Klopp leaving

The Liverpool manager’s decision to leave Liverpool has shocked the entire football world

Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker praised the ‘incredible job’ Klopp has done 

‘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.’

Klopp took over Liverpool in 2015 from Brendan Rodgers, tasked with overhauling a struggling side that had come close to winning trophies, but had often fallen short.

He had to be patient for his first piece of silverware – which came in 2019 as his side beat Tottenham in the Champions League final.

One year later, he led his team to their first Premier League title win in 30 years as they romped to victory with 99 points to see off their bitter rivals Man City.

The Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup followed and in the 2021-22 season his side won the double of the FA Cup and Carabao Cup.

Klopp became renowned for his passionate displays on the touchline, bust-ups with rival managers, snappy retorts at journalists and often hilarious moments and displays of his lighter side in press conferences.

He was also a vocal critic of the Premier League’s notoriously jam-packed fixture schedule – and would never hold back if he felt his team had been on the wrong end of a bad refereeing or VAR call.

Former Liverpool man Xabi Alonso has quickly emerged as one of the front-runners to take over from Klopp after his incredible work at Bayer Leverkusen that has seen him take the team to the top of the Bundesliga.