Jürgen Klopp launched his reign as Germany head coach with an extraordinary ultimatum: cross his family and he walks. The 59-year-old, appointed on a four-year deal Friday to succeed Julian Nagelsmann, used his first press conference to warn journalists he would abandon the role without severance pay if they invaded his privacy.
"If you behave badly and don't leave my family in peace, I'll be gone," Klopp said. "I'll just turn away." The former Liverpool manager, who left Anfield in 2024 after "running out of energy", takes over a side that crashed out of the World Cup in the last 32 to Paraguay. Germany have not reached the last 16 since winning the tournament in 2014.
“Klopp warns media to leave family alone or he'll quit Germany job.”
Klopp, who had been working as Red Bull's global head of soccer since January 2025, said the national team job is the pinnacle of his career. "Jurgen Klopp is not going to have any career after the national team," he declared. "This is the absolute high point of my footballing career as coach. I will give everything I have got."
But he made clear his patience with the media is limited. "I'm taking this job even though I've seen how you treated Nagelsmann and, in England, Thomas Tuchel," he said. "The day you don't want me any more, I'm gone, without any severance pay. If you say tomorrow: 'He's s***,' tell me to my face and I'm out."
Klopp's first game in charge will be against the Netherlands in a Nations League match on 24 September. He will be joined by former Liverpool assistants Pep Lijnders and Peter Krawietz. The 59-year-old, who led Liverpool to Premier League and Champions League glory, said he feels "the time is right" for his return to coaching after a two-year break. "I want to create a situation where fans go home after the game and say: 'Wow, that was cool,'" he said. "Ideally, football can change a country."
Yet his opening gambit left no doubt: this is a manager ready to walk away as quickly as he arrived.
