“The reason for the timing was that Thomas Tuchel was about to go to HSV”

Jürgen Klopp cited the rumors about his successor Thomas Tuchel as the reason for the somewhat surprising announcement of his departure from BVB in April 2015.

“I can still remember the reason for the timing back then was that Thomas Tuchel was about to go to HSV,” said Klopp in the WDR-Podcast “Ball you need is love” in conversation with Arnd Zeigler.

Klopp read about it and said: “Wait a minute! Tuchel is going to HSV? Then we have to get out with it now! That’s why it was a bit earlier than planned at the time.”

On April 15, 2015 – five games before the end of the season – Klopp announced his departure from BVB after seven years at a press conference scheduled at short notice. “Internally, we had to push it a bit earlier so that we could talk to Thomas early on, who I think is an exceptional coach,” Klopp said of his successor at Borussia Dortmund. Tuchel, who was without a club at the time, went to BVB for two years.

The decision to prematurely terminate his contract with the Black and Yellows, which actually ran until 2018, had been made for Klopp for some time. “It felt like the story was over at the time,” he explained. “The feeling was there at the time, otherwise I wouldn’t have done it. I also wanted to quit at Dortmund then, but for the better.”

BVB: Jürgen Klopp celebrated great successes

Klopp celebrated great successes with BVB and became German champions in 2011 and 2012. In 2012 he even managed the double by winning the DFB Cup. In his last season, Dortmund slipped into the relegation battle in the first half of the season, but still ended the season in seventh place. In the cup final, Klopp and his team lost to VfL Wolfsburg and thus missed another title to mark the end of his Dortmund era.

In October 2015, Klopp signed for Liverpool FC, where he also had a successful time with the 2019 Champions League triumph and the 2020 English championship title. After a poor start to the season, he is currently only seventh in the Premier League with the Reds.