Klopp had telling reaction to huge pay-off after making Liverpool exit decision

03 February 2024 , 09:19

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Klopp had telling reaction to huge pay-off after making Liverpool exit decision

Jurgen Klopp has put his pride before his pennies by deciding to leave Liverpool on his own terms.

Unlike most top-level football managers, Klopp will leave his post without receiving a huge compensation package. In contrast to one of his most prominent contemporaries, Jose Mourinho, who's believed to have earned a staggering £85million just from being sacked in his career, Klopp has never been axed from any of his three managerial jobs and always decided on his exit.

As shown at Mainz and Borussia Dortmund and now Liverpool, the German knows when it's time to hand over the reins. But after making his bombshell decision to leave Anfield, which was announced last Friday in a shock to world football, Klopp privately joked that he could've just waited for Liverpool's owners, Fenway Sports Group, to get sick of him.

The 56-year-old would therefore have been in line for a eye-watering pay-off, as he's under contract until 2026. As reported by the Daily Mail, though, Klopp made his decision well in advance and didn't seriously think about simply waiting for the sack to come - even though it would've taken a serious collapse in form for FSG to even think about it.

The Reds are currently top of the Premier League table by five points and remain in the hunt for four trophies. Klopp wants to give it his all over his final four months in charge on Merseyside before his successor, as yet unknown, takes over.

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"With all the responsibility you have in your job, you have to be on top of your game," the former Mainz and Dortmund boss explained. "I've been doing this for 24 years now. To arrive at Liverpool, it's because I've invested everything I've had. I've realised my resources are not endless.

"Put everything into this season, and then have a rest at my age. We are not young rabbits anymore. This club needs a manager on top of his game, and at the top level. I still think it is the right thing to do. I'm convinced it is right."

Your turn! Who should Liverpool appoint to replace Jurgen Klopp? Give us your pick in the comments section.

Jurgen Klopp is giving it one last go (Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

What will Klopp do next? Well, nothing football-wise. "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 told reporters. "I can promise that, even if I have nothing to eat that will not happen."

Nathan Ridley