Sporting director reveals plans to hire Jurgen Klopp

Germany sporting director Rudi Voller has confirmed Jurgen Klopp is their top candidate for the head coach job should Julian Nagelsmann decide to step away from his role.

Klopp is currently out of work having decided to leave Liverpool at the end of the 2023/24 season and is not planning to return to management until 2025 at the earliest.

His standing as one of Germany's best managers of all time has led to constant links to the national team job over the last decade.

In an interview with Aktuelle Sportstudio, legendary forward Voller, who is now part of the national team setup, admitted that Klopp is still in their thinking.

"There is no need to hide the fact that Jurgen Klopp has an incredible CV," he said.

"I don't even know what Jurgen would like to do again. If Julian were to decide at some point that he wanted to take over a top club in Germany or Europe again, there would be no way past Jurgen, that's for sure."

Nagelsmann took the Germany job in 2023 after the departure of Hansi Flick, who led the national side during a disappointing 25-game spell which included a group-stage elimination at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

There was pessimism about Germany ahead of Euro 2024 on home soil, but Nagelsmann managed to revitalise a young team and lead them to the quarter-finals, where they were beaten in the last minute of extra time by eventual champions Spain.

Despite links to the Barcelona job earlier this year, there has been little to suggest Nagelsmann is thinking about leaving his post prior to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Klopp, meanwhile, has managed one match since his Liverpool exit - a testimonial at former club Borussia Dortmund between club legends Lukasz Piszczek and Jakub Blaszczykowski.

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