It is pretty much a certainty and written in the stars at this point that Jürgen Klopp is going to become the next manager of the German national team after Julian Nagelsmann resigned, but it’s not a done deal just quite yet. The bitterness of Die Mannschaft underperforming and not meeting expectations at a third consecutive World Cup has been slightly alleviated with the news that Klopp is set to be given the job by the DFB with pretty much all the power he wants as a new era comes about for Germany.
His release clause in his Red Bull contract as head of global football is specifically designed around leaving for the national team job, but there’s still details that need to be worked out and fine-tuned.
Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke recently stressed the fact that the deal is not yet fully done for Klopp to put pen to paper to replace Nagelsmann. “This is not a done deal yet. There are still hurdles to overcome. Especially considering that he has a contract at RB. I’m a bit more skeptical than others. I’m convinced the chances are higher than 50%, but that doesn’t mean it’s 100%. Jürgen is our plan A and we want to implement our plan A. There are problems to be solved,” Watzke told ZDF (transcribed via @iMiaSanMia)
Optically, from the outside looking in, the writing is on the wall. Klopp has maintained that there were really only two jobs that would interest him enough to step away from his roll at Red Bull to step back into management — Germany or Real Madrid. In the same vein, he’s said that he would not want to go back to England to manage any other team besides Liverpool and he’s routinely thrown cold water on rumors linking him with the Bayern Munich job due to his Dortmund legacy, though that same sort of sentiment didn’t exactly apply when he took a role that has indirect oversight on RB Leipzig, one of Germany’s most disliked clubs.
“Jürgen’s willingness to solve these problems is a significant help. Of course, we have our [financial] limits. We expect, or rather I expect, a slight ‘patriotism discount’ from Jürgen in particular. I know that he loves Germany,” Watzke continued. Not everything is black and white to the point were everyone in Germany loves Klopp, has faith in him and the job is open with his willingness to take over — it’s not exactly as simple as that. The former Liverpool, Dortmund and Mainz manager has also maintained that he plans on bringing both Peter Krawietz and Zsolt Löw with him to be a part of his coaching staff at Germany — that’s a lot of contractual and financial work involved to get done.
Nonetheless, Germany is waiting for the moment, the moment the “heavy metal” brand of football man makes it official and takes the hot seat to try to get Germany back where it belongs, perched on top of the footballing pedestal it sat upon in Brazil some eight years ago.
Join the conversation!
Sign up for a user account and get:
- New, improved notifications system!
- Fewer ads
- Create community posts
- Comment on articles, community posts
- Rec comments, community posts
