Jürgen Klopp will leave Liverpool FC, the English football club he has led to six major trophies, at the end of the current season, saying he’s “running out of energy.”
His reign at the club helped Fenway Sports Group, its US owners, to reap a massive increase in valuation. FSG bought Liverpool for £300 million ($383 million) in 2010. After five years of struggling to compete with its bigger rivals, Klopp was hired in 2015, and the club won the Champions League in 2019.
FSG recently sold a minority stake in Liverpool to New York investment firm Dynasty Equity, worth between $100 million and $200 million. The club is valued about $5 billion, according to Forbes, although struggled to find buyers when a full sale was considered in late 2022.
“I can understand that that’s a shock for a lot of people in this moment,” Klopp, 56, said in a video interview posted on X on Friday.
While at Anfield, Klopp has won the Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup, Premier League, League Cup and FA Cup – the only Liverpool manager to achieve that feat, according to its website.
Although most sports teams have seen a rapid rise in valuations, under Klopp and Fenway the club has become a financial powerhouse, generating €682.9 million ($743 million) in revenue last season, the seventh highest in Europe, according to Deloitte.
The popular manager rose to success at Germany’s Borussia Dortmund GmbH, which he led to two Bundesliga titles in succession in 2011 and 2012.
Liverpool currently tops the Premier League table, with a five-point lead over Manchester City and Arsenal. It’s second favorite to win the 2023-2024 Premier League, according to the latest betting odds at Paddy Power.