Borussia Dortmund will announce on Wednesday the departure of their manager, Jürgen Klopp, at the end of the season. The BVB manager has asked the club to be released after enduring a difficult season and Dortmund have called a press conference on Wednesday, The Guardian reports.
Representatives of the 47-year-old have already received several inquiries for his services since the news of his departure broke on Wednesday morning but they have not entered any formal contract negotiations. Klopp is expected to take the next few weeks to carefully weigh up his options. Unlike Pep Guardiola and Thomas Tuchel, however, he is unlikely to take a sabbatical from football altogether.
It has been a long and hard season at Dortmund with the team in the bottom half of the table for long periods of the campaign and they were eliminated – and outplayed – by Juventus in the last 16 of the Champions League.
Klopp arrived from Mainz seven years ago and has won the Bundesliga title twice, the German Cup once and reached the Champions League final against Bayern Munich in 2013, a game they lost 2-1.
German newspaper Bild suggest that Tuchel, who, like Klopp, worked at Mainz, is the frontrunner to take over in the summer. Tuchel was offered the Hamburg job this week but turned it down.
Dortmund are currently 10th in the Bundesliga and there have beensigns of Klopp’s frustration in recent months. After a recent home defeat against Bayern Munich – who have signed several Dortmund players in recent years – the manager was dismayed by Sky Germany’s request to interview him in front of the travelling fans.
“I’ve got to say I think that’s a fantastic idea from Sky to interview me here and give those [Bayern] lads every opportunity to do what they want,” he said. “But I guess this is just something else I’ve got to stomach.”
