Jurgen Klopp is officially done with his front-office experiment. The former Liverpool manager has agreed to become the next head coach of the German national team, according to Fabrizio Romano. The deal is moving fast, and Klopp is expected to trigger an exit clause in his Red Bull contract to make it happen.
Klopp stepped away from the sideline in 2024 after nine years at Anfield. He took a job as Red Bull’s global head of soccer in January 2025, thinking he could stay close to the game without the grind of week-to-week management. He helped shape things at Leipzig, Salzburg, New York, and Bragantino. But the man misses the real thing. Or at least, he missed the idea of coaching his country.
The dominoes fell fast after Germany’s World Cup disaster
Germany crashed out of the World Cup in the round of 32. Lost to Paraguay on penalties, 4-3. That’s not just a bad loss. That’s a national embarrassment for a program that used to win everything. The DFB moved quickly. Julian Nagelsmann was told to resign or be fired, according to reports. He resigned on Saturday.
That same day, Klopp confirmed the talks. He told reporters, Yes, I can confirm the talks. Things moved along quite quickly. Julian has resigned and the DFB is working on a successor. And in the course of these considerations, they approached me.
Romano hit social media with a here we go
shortly after. The key details — contract length, project specifics, his exit from Red Bull — are still being sorted. But the decision is made. Klopp is back.
This was always the job Klopp wanted
For years, people assumed Klopp would eventually take over Germany. He kept deflecting questions about it while at Liverpool, but everyone in football knew. Managing the national team was his dream role, and he’s been reluctant to take another club job because it would eat into the family time he finally has. Well, national team duty is different. It’s less intense on a daily basis, though the pressure to win a trophy for a fallen giant is real.
Germany last won the World Cup in 2014. They haven’t won the Euros since 1996. They did take the Confederations Cup in 2017, but nobody really counts that. Klopp is expected to change that.
Earlier this year, he was linked with the Real Madrid job. Florentino Perez went with Jose Mourinho instead. That might have been a blessing in disguise. Klopp downplayed those rumors anyway. Now he gets to lead a national team that needs a jolt of energy, and he gets to do it in his own backyard.
Red Bull, for what it’s worth, reportedly looked at Oliver Glasner as a replacement. But Glasner signed with Nottingham Forest. So that door closed fast. Klopp’s departure leaves a gap at the top of the Red Bull soccer operation, but that’s a problem for another day. Right now, Germany has its man.
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