Top 5 Candidates to Replace Outgoing Liverpool Manager Jürgen Klopp

Liverpool fans from all over the world woke up Friday morning with some extremely unwelcome news.

Jürgen Klopp, the club's manager since 2015, has announced he will be stepping down at the end of the 2023-24 campaign, saying he is "running out of energy" to continue in one of the most high-pressure jobs in world football.

"I can understand that it's a shock for a lot of people in this moment when you hear it for the first time, but obviously I can explain it—or at least try to explain it," the 56-year-old said.

"I love absolutely everything about this club, I love everything about the city, I love everything about our supporters, I love the team, I love the staff. I love everything. But that I still take this decision shows you that I am convinced it is the one I have to take."

The timing isn't ideal, with the Reds in the thick of a title race and with a Carabao Cup final against Chelsea on the horizon. Liverpool also remain in the FA Cup and UEFA Europa League hunt.

Klopp will leave Liverpool with a trophy collection that (at least) includes a Premier League title, an FA Cup, a League Cup, a Community Shield, a UEFA Champions League, a UEFA Super Cup and a FIFA Club World Cup.

In short, Klopp has won practically every competition the Reds have been involved in—aside from the Europa League (so far)—and he has fully restored the standing of a storied club that had lost its way since the glory days of the 1970s and 1980s.

But the baseball cap will have to be filled by someone, so which names are in the frame to take over in the Anfield dugout?

Liverpool club legend Xabi Alonso has begun managerial life with all the grace and composure that he showed in his playing days.

The former midfielder took charge of Bayer Leverkusen in October 2022, taking over from Gerardo Seoane with the club second bottom of the Bundesliga table.

It was a huge gamble, with Alonso's only prior managerial experience in charge of Real Sociedad B. But it's paid off handsomely so far.

In his first season, he guided Die Werkself to a sixth-place domestic finish and a Europa League semi-final, but his second season has been even more remarkable.

Leverkusen are top of the Bundesliga and four points clear of closest challengers Bayern Munich. They finished winners of Group H in the Europa League and are in the quarterfinal of the DFB-Pokal.

It's a stunning record this early into his managerial career, and Liverpool will likely want to bring the club icon back to where he belongs.

A season-and-a-half of top-flight management might not be a huge sample size, but Alonso seems like a perfect fit. He might decide he needs a couple more years of seasoning before making a big step up—and this one comes with plenty of existing narrative—but the Reds will surely welcome the former No. 14 with open arms.

Aside from Alonso, few managers' stocks have risen quite as rapidly as Roberto De Zerbi's.

The Brighton & Hove Albion manager took over a club that was already surpassing expectations under Graham Potter and has taken them to a whole new level.

The Englishman left the Seagulls to join Chelsea having guided the club to ninth in the Premier League the previous season and seeing them sit in fourth in the early goings of the 2022-23 campaign. Potter was sacked by the Blues in April 2023.

Few would have expected the south-coast side to stay in the Champions League places for the rest of the campaign, but while many thought standards would slip with De Zerbi's appointment, he led Brighton to a sixth-place finish and the club's first berth in a European tournament.

This season, the Italian's side topped a Europa League group that featured experienced teams in Marseille and Ajax. The Seagulls have kept pace in the Premier League despite the expanded calendar and sit in seventh.

That De Zerbi has done so while developing young stars like Evan Ferguson, Julio Enciso, Jan Paul van Hecke and João Pedro, and embracing the talents of unheralded signings in Kauru Mitoma and Pervis Estupiñán, is even more remarkable.

As one of the top managerial prospects around, and as someone who would likely welcome the test of a higher caliber of club, De Zerbi and Liverpool could be a great match.

Sporting CP boss Ruben Amorim has gained a lot of fans in his first half-decade of management.

He earned the job at Sporting after an impressive couple of months in charge of Braga, winning the 2019-20 Taça da Liga in just his fifth game in charge. He only lost two games—both against Rangers in the Europa League—before the side from Lisbon swooped.

Since then, Amorim has rebuilt Sporting and delivered the club's first Primeira Liga title in nearly two decades with success in the 2020-21 campaign.

He also secured Sporting the Taça da Liga twice—winning three titles in three years with two different clubs—as well as the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira.

Meanwhile, he guided Sporting to the Europa League quarterfinal in 2022-23, knocking out a resurgent Arsenal side in the last 16.

Amorim's tactical versatility and possession-based approach might appeal to the Liverpool hierarchy, while his age at 38 years old makes him an exciting long-term appointment.

And with Liverpool offering a grander stage and a bigger transfer budget, it might be an opportunity he simply can't pass up.

Hansi Flick's last managerial job might have ended in disappointment, with only 12 wins in 25 games as the head coach of the Germany national team, but that doesn't erase his previous success.

Flick delivered back-to-back Bundesliga titles as Bayern Munich boss in 2019-20 and 2020-21 before embarking on a new challenge.

He also grabbed the 2019-20 Champions League title and won the 2019-20 DFB-Pokal, 2020 DFL-Supercup, 2020 UEFA Super Cup and 2020 FIFA Club World Cup in just two-and-a-half years.

Flick's high-intensity, pressing brand would suit the style that Klopp has preached at Liverpool during his time at the club, so molding the team to his tactical preferences shouldn't be too much of a stretch.

Meanwhile, he's a free agent, so the Liverpool board will be able to negotiate with him in a much more serene manner than if they wanted to prise someone away from their existing club—and his appointment would be much cheaper with no compensation to pay.

Peter Bosz has PSV Eindhoven at the top of the Eredivisie and 10 points clear of closest challengers Feyenoord.

His managerial history is checkered, with ill-fated spells at Borussia Dortmund and Lyon perhaps raising a red flag.

But PSV are flying, going unbeaten so far in the domestic season and qualifying for the Champions League knockouts with only one defeat in Group B.

His aggressive-pressing and possession-oriented approach would be welcomed at Anfield, continuing a mantra that has served Klopp well over the course of nearly a decade.

Bosz may want to stick around for a while with a club that is thriving under his tutelage, rebuilding his reputation in the process. But maybe striking while the iron is hot to get one to the most coveted jobs in world football is his best play in case things go south quickly.