Manchester City, PSG or Sabbatical: Assessing Jurgen Klopp's Options This Summer
Jurgen Klopp dropped something of a seismic bomb on Wednesday that will have a ripple effect across European football.
The trainer announced at a press conference, per Deutsche Welle, that he would leave Borussia Dortmund at the end of the current season, calling it quits on his seven-year stay at the Signal-Iduna Park.
The 47-year-old has a contract valid until 2018, but that deal will be annulled at the end of June. Klopp's stepping down was unthinkable a year ago, but a season that has seen the club's hopes of a return to the Champions League end—and the side in severe danger of missing out on the Europa League with just six matches left to play in the Bundesliga—has changed that.
He will soon part ways with the club he led to back-to-back German championships in 2011 and 2012.
The question now is: What is the next step for Klopp?
Despite his poor record as of late, he remains the only coach to win the German double with BVB. He also put together a title-winning team on a shoestring budget—an achievement that has not been erased.
There will be many clubs interested in his signature. On the other hand, Klopp could follow the likes of Pep Guardiola and Thomas Tuchel and take a sabbatical. The current season has been an emotional roller coaster, and he hasn't experienced coaching at another club since 2008.
Click "Begin Slideshow" to see B/R's full analysis of Klopp's options once the current season ends.
Manchester City
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Like Dortmund, Manchester City have fallen from grace quite dramatically. The 2013-14 Premier League and League Cup winners are set to miss out on silverware altogether this season, and following four losses in their last six games in all competitions, they are in serious danger of missing out on Champions League football.
City are in need of a major overhaul during the offseason. Manuel Pellegrini is likely to get the sack, but their problems run far deeper than the coach.
The squad seems to lack motivation. Once a linchpin in the midfield, Yaya Toure looks to be simply going through the motions. Vincent Kompany is a shadow of his former self, and although the majority of City players are aged 24 to 29, few look to truly be in their prime. They instead look to have reached their peak, which apparently isn't enough.
At this point, there aren't any young, developing stars who are hungry and can provide hope for a better future.
The massive changes needed at City will require a bold coach who can invigorate the team. They need a complete makeover in how they do football, from rebuilding the squad, to changing the players upon whom they rely, to adopting a new tactical approach. And most of all, they need a new mentality and ethos. Klopp can bring all these.
It would be a big step for Klopp to join City, given that he's never taken on a project of nearly as high a profile. Expectations would be high from day one, and he'd have to make all the right decisions with personnel.
On the other hand, he'd be given free reign to overhaul the squad and would have enormous financial resources.
Paris Saint-Germain
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Paris Saint-Germain look to be on their way out of the Champions League following a 3-1 home defeat to Barcelona. In Ligue 1, they're two points behind leaders Lyon, albeit with a game in hand. This isn't what the club expected from some €442.5 million in player purchases since 2011, per Transfermarkt.
Unlike City, PSG can gain little prestige from winning their domestic league. Ligue 1 is not regarded as one of Europe's top three leagues, and PSG enjoy complete financial dominance over the competition.
The step they're desperate to take is to become contenders in the Champions League. Yet since Qatar Sports Investments became the club's majority shareholder in 2011, the quarterfinal is the furthest they've managed.
Spending massive sums of money has proven of little use, and PSG's transfer budget may be limited after they faced sanctions for breaching financial fair play rules last year. Therefore, a coach like Klopp could be in order.
At PSG, Klopp would not be under the same media scrutiny as he would be at Manchester City, and winning the league would be a much less difficult task. In theory, Champions League success would be no more or less tall an order given that the French side would also need some serious changes.
As with a City move, Klopp to PSG would be a risk for both coach and club. But it's a sensible one given the current market for managers and the club and coach's mutual need for change.
Barcelona
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Klopp's high-pressing, counterattacking system was the footballing antithesis of Pep Guardiola's possession-based "tiki-taka" at Barcelona, but times have changed and it could be that the German will take the helm at Camp Nou.
Barca have presidential elections this summer, and per Goal, current president Josep Maria Bartomeu, fellow candidate Agusti Benedito and former head Joan Laporta (who could soon announce his candidacy) all rate Klopp very highly.
The Catalan side are leaders in La Liga and could yet go all the way in the Champions League. But they are also in something of a transition phase, as the likes of Xavi and Dani Alves play progressively lesser roles and the club continue to work towards rebuilding the midfield quality they had under Guardiola.
It's a very real possibility that Barca could part ways with Luis Enrique at season's end, regardless of results.
Klopp would be a bold signing for Barca and would certainly usher in a new era. Even if he changes his tactics, his signing would certainly bring a new chapter in the club's history, a definitive end of the possession-heavy systems instilled by Johan Cruyff, Louis van Gaal and Guardiola.
It's so radical it may even be true.
Bayern Munich
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Bayern Munich chief executive officer Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has put his full support behind Pep Guardiola at every opportunity. However, his patience is surely becoming more and more strained.
Guardiola has achieved many great things at Bayern. He won the domestic double last season, and his club are favorites to repeat the feat in the current campaign; they at least are a mile ahead in the Bundesliga table.
Rummenigge and the club's players are always quick to praise Guardiola for the culture he's instilled at the club and for how the players have developed tactically and technically under his mentorship.
On the other hand, Bayern's performance has left much to be desired on the highest stage. In matches against the Bundesliga's top five this season, they've lost just as many (two) as they've won, with three draws.
Last year, Bayern were humiliated by Real Madrid in last year's Champions League semi-finals, losing by a club record 5-1 aggregate score. And on Wednesday, Porto beat the Bavarians 3-1, leaving Guardiola's men with it all to do in the second leg.
They may be hit by a long list of injuries, but Bayern had six World Cup winners in their starting lineup on Wednesday. Defeat to the Portuguese side in the quarterfinals would be a major disappointment considering Bayern had reached the final in three of the previous four seasons prior to Guardiola's arrival.
The Spaniard could yet lift his team to glory, but his record nonetheless will raise a skeptical eyebrow: In nine knockout round matches at Bayern, he's won, lost and drawn three matches apiece.
It's unlikely Bayern will give up on Guardiola in any case this summer, but if they are eliminated by Porto and fail to win the Pokal, the possibility is still there.
Bayern, who still seem to rely heavily on the aging Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery, will need to rebuild. A new coach may be needed to bring in fresh ideas where Guardiola hasn't quite managed to do the same.
Klopp would be one of many options, but he has to be among the candidates: He has a record for squad building, experience in the Bundesliga, and knows how to get the best out of Mario Gotze and Robert Lewandowski. And if he could bring Ilkay Gundogan, Marco Reus and/or Mats Hummels with him, it'd be a big bonus.
Sabbatical
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Even though Klopp claimed in his press conference that his decision to step down was not due to fatigue, a sabbatical is entirely possible. He was clear in stating that he had no plans to take a year off.
Of course, that could change. He cited reports in German media that he was fatigued, and frankly, it would be a surprise if he wasn't.
Although he is a coach with great potential that many clubs would love to have, Klopp right now is a risk for a number of reasons. And by now, he should know the risks that would come with immediately taking on a new project.
Klopp's only coaching experience thus far has been at Mainz and Dortmund. He made the leap to the big scene at BVB, but his success there was cultivated over time.
He inherited a fallen power, a club with modest expectations that had finished 13th in the Bundesliga the previous season. His success was immediate as he led BVB to sixth, fifth, and finally consecutive first-place finishes in the German league. But building a team from scratch and bringing it from 13th to sixth is very different from going from, for example, seventh (or even third) to first. In this regard, he'll need to learn.
If he joins a top club, Klopp will be expected to deliver from day one. He'll also be trusted with a larger budget than he ever had at BVB.
Klopp's team-building success was in bringing in youngsters like Neven Subotic from Mainz and helping Robert Lewandowski achieve his potential after a slow first season at the Signal-Iduna Park. When given a bigger budget, his transfers (see Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Ciro Immobile) flopped.
When it comes to signing big-name players, as he'll have to should he join a top club, Klopp has much to prove.
Finally, tactics will be a big issue for Klopp, whose inflexibility cost him at Dortmund. The club he joins will not be able to play his style of football from day one and will not consist of exactly what he needs for his specific style.
There will predictably be some with egos who will be unwilling to press as his system at BVB demands. If he leaves Germany for England, he won't have the benefit of the winter break to help his team recharge. Even with a larger and deeper squad than he had at BVB, fatigue could be a problem.
Klopp is still rather young as coaches go and surely has a lot to offer. However, he's reached a point in his coaching career where he needs to reflect on his experiences and learn what he needs to take the next step: Jumping into new and unfamiliar waters may at this stage prove foolhardy.
As tempting as it may be for Klopp to put the past behind him and move on to a new challenge, a few weeks to recharge followed by the majority of a year to study and develop may be the best option.
