Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is the favorite to take over as Germany coach, with current manager Julian Nagelsmann reportedly set to be sacked.
Nagelsmann, 38, has been under pressure since Germany’s last-32 withdrawal from the World Cup following a stunning loss to Paraguay.
Bild claimed Thursday, using photos of Nagelsmann at German FA (DFB) headquarters in Frankfurt, that the coach was offered a severance package of seven million euros ($8 million) to leave the role following a three-hour meeting.
Nagelsmann’s contract was last renewed in January 2025 and is slated to continue until 2028.
His yearly pay has not been made public; however, German media say that he makes approximately seven million euros per year.
Germany’s penalty shootout loss to Paraguay was the four-time champion’s third straight early World Cup departure, following group stage eliminations in Russia and Qatar.
Germany’s defeat on Monday marked their first knockout match since winning the World Cup in Brazil in 2014.
Bernd Neuendorf, head of the DFB, declared on Tuesday that a probe into the World Cup disaster will begin immediately.
A decision on Nagelsmann is expected “by the beginning of next week at the latest.” The AFP sports subsidiary SID reported on Thursday.
Several German media outlets, including Sky and Munich’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung, have declared Klopp the overwhelming frontrunner to succeed Nagelsmann.
Klopp left management at Liverpool in 2024 and has since been hired as the president of worldwide football for energy drink giant Red Bull, heading a multi-club network that includes clubs in Austria, Germany, Brazil, the United States, and Japan.
