Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp is to leave the German club this summer, intensifying rumours that he is to take over from Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini after a disappointing season in the Premier League, according to German newspaper Bild.
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It is reported that Klopp has asked Dortmund club president Hans-Joachim Watzke to prematurely end his contract, which runs until 2018, so he can take a break from football.
The manager has had a successful time at BVB, winning two Bundesliga titles and one German cup, but a disappointing season this year where the club flirted with relegation appears to have taken its toll.
The German newspaper reports that former Mainz manager Thomas Tuchel will be named as the successor of Klopp, having been offered a four year contract with a €20m salary, after taking the smaller club to a seventh placed finish in the Bundesliga and a Europa League spot in the 2013/14 season.
Klopp’s decision to leave Signal Iduna Park comes in a season when the club were humbled by Juventus in the Champions League last-16 , losing 5-1 on aggregate, had relegation fears midway through the campaign as they sat bottom following a 1-0 home defeat to Augsburg in February and the club sitting 37 points behind Bayern Munich.
Cracks have started to show in the fractious relationship between coach and captain as Klopp argued with Sebastien Kehl following their 3-1 reversal over the weekend against Borussia Monchengladbach and only time will tell if the German manager makes his way to the Etihad Stadium.
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