Rumors swirling that Jürgen Klopp could take aim at German national team job

21 February 2026, Hesse, Frankfurt/Main: Jürgen Klopp comes to the Ball des Sports. The Sports Ball is a charity event in aid of Sporthilfe. Photo: Hannes P. Albert/dpa (Photo by Hannes P Albert/picture alliance via Getty Images) The World Cup can be considered a make or break tournament for any coa

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The World Cup can be considered a make or break tournament for any coach.

For former Bayern Munich boss Julian Nagelsmann, it could mean everything. According to Sport Bild (as captured by Get German Football News), former Liverpool, Borussia Dortmund, and Mainz 05 boss Jürgen Klopp could be thinking of leaving his post with Red Bull in favor of taking over the German national team:

Sport Bild reports that Red Bull are concerned that Jürgen Klopp will leave his role as Global Head of Soccer.

In recent

weeks, there has been speculation that the Energy drinks company are unhappy with the work of the former Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund head coach, and that he could be removed from his role as Global Head of Soccer, which he began in January of 2025.

While Klopp won’t be leaving his role to manage Real Madrid, there are discussions internally that he could leave Red Bull in the summer to replace Julian Nagelsmann as the German national team head coach, and this is considered a real possibility.

Of course, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Manchester United and others will all want to lure Klopp to take another club post, but Klopp is at the age (58) where he could be looking for a vocation — something he can really dive into for the love of what he does rather than any monetary reward (though, the money would surely be nice, too).

Nagelsmann’s deal with the DFB runs through the EURO 2028 competition.

BFW Analysis

Klopp is not a house cat. Sticking him in an office and having him examine spreadsheets never seemed like it was going to be a long-term gig with Red Bull. While the 2026 World Cup is the ultimate “Judgement Day” for Nagelsmann, the head coach’s recent Kicker interview has led some to believe that he could be going down the same road he did at Bayern Munich — which was not ultimately successful.

Klopp would seem to be the perfect coach for the German national team and at a stage of his career where it truly would be a move that would be based on his love of his country and the for the love of the game.

If the DFB moves on from Nagelsmann or the coach resigns to take a club job, Klopp would be the ideal person to take over.