Is Jürgen Klopp retiring? Liverpool manager's sabbatical promise ahead of Anfield exit

Jürgen Klopp will bring the curtain down on his Liverpool tenure on Sunday when the Reds host Wolves. The German announced in January that he was stepping down after 'running out of energy' for the job.

It had been hoped that his final campaign could yield more silverware with Liverpool, at the time, going for the quadruple. He did manage to secure the Carabao Cup while third place in the Premier League ensures a place in next season's Champions League.

Klopp has been linked with a number of jobs since announcing his exit plans but has suggested he could call it a day and stop managing. But he has left plenty of room for a U-turn.

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In a chat with club media, Klopp stated he had no plans to ever return to management — but he might change his mind during his year off. "If you ask me, 'Will you ever work as a manager again?' I would say now no," he expressed.

"But I don't know obviously how that will feel because I never had the situation. What I know definitely I will never, ever manage a different club in England than Liverpool, 100 per cent. That's not possible.

"My love for this club, my respect for the people is too big. I couldn't. I couldn't for a second think about it. There's no chance. This is part of my life, we are part of the family, we feel home here."

"There's no chance to do that. But all the rest, will I ever work again? Of course, I know myself, I cannot just sit around. I will find something else maybe to do. But I will not manage a club or a country at least for a year, that's not possible, I cannot do that and I don't want to."

"That's all. It's such a strange situation because I have to explain that I don't have energy anymore, but now I'm sitting here and I have energy and I'm buzzing for everything that's happening here."

Speaking to reporters at the press conference, Klopp once again touched on his retirement plan, and what comes next. He reiterated that he intends to at least take a year-long sabbatical, striking a different note to when he left Borussia Dortmund, but perhaps gave a little more of a hint that he is likely to eventually return to the game:

"I have never lived a (normal) life," he said. "That is true.

"Having three or four weeks in the summer was enough, but not anymore. No club, no country for the next year, no other English club ever, I can promise that. Even if I have nothing to eat, it will not happen."

He also mentioned: "When I said 'Liverpool 2.0' I didn't mean me for the next years. A top manager will come here, play good football. It's a wonderful future ahead, that is all I want, not to be the passenger who disturbs that process."

Klopp stood by those plans when he told the Liverpool ECHO this week: "It is definitely that my time in England is over because I will not coach another team here. If I manage again it will not be around the corner. Nothing will happen like that. It means a big, big part of my life is definitely over. "

*This article was originally published on January 27. It has since been updated.