Jurgen Klopp took Mainz and Borussia Dortmund higher than they had ought to be in German football, and brought Liverpool back to the top table in England and Europe after joining the club in 2015.

Jurgen Klopp is the former manager of Liverpool, a club he rejuvenated into one of the powerhouses of world football after lifting the Champions League and the Premier League during his tenure at Anfield.

The Stuttgart-born manager began his coaching career at Mainz 05, the club where he had played the majority of his soccer as a striker and defender. In 2008, after seven years with Mainz, he joined Borussia Dortmund on a two-and-a-half-year deal.

At Signal Iduna Park, Klopp transformed the Black and Yellows and guided Dortmund to back-to-back Bundesliga titles and a UEFA Champions League final.

After another seven-year spell, this time with Dortmund, Klopp joined Liverpool in 2015 and moulded the Reds into an elite outfit again.

The Champions League was added to the Reds' trophy cabinet in 2019 before a Premier League title came Liverpool's way in 2020 - the Reds' first league title for 30 years.

In January 2024, Klopp announced he would be leaving Liverpool at the end of the season after nearly nine years in charge.

Liverpool began the long goodbye to Klopp with an extra-time victory over Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final.

But it was the only silverware they picked up in the 2023/24 season after finishing third in the Premier League and were knocked out of the Europa League and FA Cup at the quarter-final stage.

 

Time at Mainz 05

As a player, Jurgen Klopp spent the majority of his days at Mainz 05, where he ended up making 325 appearances and scoring 52 goals across 11 years at the German side.

Immediately after retiring, Klopp took charge of the side as head coach, where he went on to spend seven years mastering his trade.

During his time at Mainz, Klopp instilled his now famous gegenpressing style of play, and after two years of narrowly missing out on promotion, Klopp managed to help his beloved Mainz side into the Bundesliga for the first time in the club's history after finishing third in the 2003/04 season.

Despite boasting the smallest budget in the top flight of German football, Klopp navigated Mainz to successive 11th-place finishes in Bundesliga. Unfortunately his side suffered relegation in the 2006/07 season, but Klopp chose to stay for the following campaign.

After being unable to win promotion in the 2007/08 season, Klopp resigned and headed for Dortmund, where he ended up coaching for a further seven years.

 

Klopp and Borussia Dortmund

After a brief period of mid-90s success, Borussia Dortmund had fallen behind Bayern Munich prior to the arrival of Klopp as manager in 2008.

Klopp improved BVB's Bundesliga position in each of his first two years in Dortmund, moving up from sixth in 2008/09 to fifth in 2009/10.

By 2010/11, Dortmund had won 14 out of 15 games to lead the Bundesliga at Christmas. Klopp's young side secured the Bundesliga title with two games to spare, conceding just 22 goals all season. Standout players included Polish striker Robert Lewandowski, Shinji Kagawa and young midfielder Mario Gotze, who had been promoted from the reserves.

Dortmund retained the Bundesliga title in 2011/12 with a record tally of 81 points and added the DFB-Pokal, to win the German double. Lewandowski scored 30 goals in all competitions.

Dortmund's focus turned to UEFA Champions League in 2012/13. However, Klopp was irritated by the announcement of the sale of Gotze to rivals Bayern Munich, before the semi-final with Real Madrid. BVB beat Real but faced Bayern in the final at Wembley in May 2013. Arjen Robben scored a late winner as Bayern secured the trophy 2-1. Dortmund ended the season as runners-up in the Bundesliga.

Dortmund won the DFL-Super Cup in 2013 and 2014 and were beaten finalists in the DFB-Pokal in 2014 and 2015. However, on April 15 2015, Klopp announced he would leave Dortmund at the end of the season.

 

Silverware at Liverpool

Klopp's transformation of Liverpool was gradual, finishing eighth in his first Premier League season after replacing Brendan Rodgers. Klopp guided Liverpool to the League Cup and Europa League finals in 2016 but lost them both.

In June 2016, Klopp made the crucial signing of Sadio Mane from Southampton for £30million. The Senegalese attacker was to become a key component in Liverpool's success.

A month later, despite not winning any silverware at Anfield, Klopp and his coaching staff were awarded six-year contract extensions.

Liverpool were to finish 2016/17 in fourth place in the Premier League, qualifying for the Champions League and bringing Europe's biggest prize into view.

Klopp had his sights set on the Champions League in 2017/18 and added defensive class to his squad with the addition of Virgil van Dijk in January 2018 for a world record fee for a defender of £75million. However, Liverpool fell at the final hurdle losing to Real Madrid in the Champions League final 3-1.

In 2018/19, Klopp finally got his hands on the Champions League trophy after Liverpool beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in the final in June 2019. The Reds finished second in the Premier League despite earning 97 points, an agonising point behind Man City.

The following season, Klopp guided Liverpool to the Premier League title for which the fans had been waiting three decades.

Liverpool were unable to defend their Premier League title in the 2020/21 season, with the Reds enduring an injury-stricken campaign that saw a number of high profile stars sidelined for months.

But after being able to rescue a fourth-placed finish, Liverpool qualified for the 2021/22 Champions League and returned to winning ways in the following season.

A League Cup and FA Cup double was wrapped up by May, but Liverpool set their sights on a record-breaking quadruple.

Liverpool took Manchester City to the final day of the Premier League, just one point behind Pep Guardiola's side, while also reaching the Champions League final which they lost 1-0 to Real Madrid.

The 2022/23 season was a difficult one for Klopp,where he looked physically and emotionally drained. Liverpool finished fifth in the Premier League and failed to reach the final stages of the cup competions.

 

Klopp stunned the world in January 2024 by annoucing announced he would be stepping down from the manager's role at the end of the 2023/24 season.

The 56-year-old German said he informed the club’s bosses of his decision to leave back in November.

“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,” Klopp told his club’s official website.

“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.”

Liverpool began the long goodbye in style as Virgil van Dijk’s header in the final moments of extra time broke Chelsea hearts and secured Carabao Cup glory.

But it was the only silverware they picked up in the 2023/24 season after finishing third in the Premier League and were knocked out of the Europa League and FA Cup at the quarter-final stage.

His 491st and final game was a 2-0 victory over 10-man Wolves, there were tears, but the atmosphere was nothing but celebratory.

The majority of the backroom staff left with Klopp and the German was replaced by incoming Feyenoord boss Arne Slot.

Klopp bowed out with seven major trophies, including Liverpool’s longest unbeaten league run at home – three years and 272 days between 2017 and 2021.

He also left with the highest win percentage – 62 per cent – of any Liverpool manager in charge for more than 30 matches and the first to win his final game since Matt McQueen in 1928.

 

Personal life

Klopp married social worker and children's writer Ulla Sandrock in 2005.

He had been previously married to Sabine Klopp and they share a son together, Marc, who was born in 1988. Marc had a reasonable football career himself with Borussia Dortmund II.

Klopp was brought up in a Lutheran Christian household and considers himself a Christian.

 

Reported net worth

Due to managerial success and a myriad of sponsorship deals, Jurgen Klopp has a net worth of £21million according to Spear's.