Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says he is “convinced” leaving the club is “right” and has “no regrets” about the decision.
The German announced on Friday he would leave Anfield at the end of the season.
Klopp, 56, said he realised his “resources are not endless” as his side continue to compete for four trophies this campaign.
“With all the responsibility you have in this job, you have to be top of your game,” Klopp said.
“I’ve been doing this 24 years now. When you have the career I had it’s almost impossible to start where I did and arrive at Liverpool.
“I always invested everything I had. I realised my resources are not endless and I prefer to pack everything into this season and then have a break or stop or whatever. We’re not young rabbits any more and we don’t jump as high as we did.
“I still think it’s the right thing to do. I don’t take these things lightly. I’m convinced it’s right. I have no regrets but a lot of special memories.”
Klopp said the players did not ask many questions when he told them of his decision but that the “fight” was there for the rest of the season.
“We have a really strong bond with the players so they didn’t ask questions yet because we are professionals,” he said.
“You can see the boys are in a really good mood. They weren’t having a party when I told them but it was just an announcement.”
Klopp’s announcement comes despite his current contract, which he signed in April 2022, running out in 2026 and he said at that time he was “100% convinced” he would continue until then.
But, having taken over the club in 2015, he said a tricky season last year – where Liverpool didn’t win any major silverware and finished fifth in the Premier League – was followed by a “difficult” summer of rebuilding and that his energy levels are “not endless”.
“I can’t do it on three wheels, I don’t want to be a passenger. My manager skills is based on energy and relationships,” he said.
“I am who I am and where I am because of how I am. I cannot be that any more.”
‘No other English club ever’
Speculation around who will succeed Klopp come the end of the season has already begun, and Klopp said he will not have a say in who that is, but that the “strong structure” built since his arrival is “one of the reasons I can leave”.
“So many people work here with only one idea – to find a perfect solution for Liverpool. The last thing they need is advice from the old man walking out of the door,” Klopp said.
“I wish for the future this club the very, very, very best.”
Klopp confirmed he does not know what will happen in the future but when asked on Friday if there would be a U-turn on his decision like that of former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who went back on his decision to retire at the end of the 2001-02 season, he remained determined there would not be.
Despite ruling that out, Klopp said he has not thought about what he will do after his time at Liverpool comes to an end.
“I have not thought about that, because I have had no time to do that,” he said.
“Whatever will happen in the future I don’t know now, but no club, no country, for the next year, and no other English club ever.
“I can promise that. Even if I have nothing to eat that will not happen.”
‘The best memories are still to come’
Klopp, the Premier League’s current longest-serving manager, quickly made himself a fans’ favourite at Liverpool, declaring he would turn “doubters to believers” in his first media conference as the club’s manager.
Off the pitch, he has made himself synonymous with the club and was granted the freedom of the city of Liverpool last year and said being an “honourable scouser” is “one of the best things I could have achieved in my life”.
On it, he guided Liverpool to their sixth European Cup in 2019 when they beat Tottenham in the Champions League final in Madrid, before winning the Premier League in 2020, a first top-flight title in 30 years.
Liverpool won a domestic cup double in the 2021-22 season and narrowly missed out on a quadruple as they were pipped by Manchester City on the final day of the Premier League season and lost the Champions League final to Real Madrid in Paris.
Liverpool chief executive Billy Hogan said: “It’s hard to put into words how significant it is. When he joined us he talked about leaving the club in a better place than where he found it. And if you look at that then there’s no doubt he’s done that.
“We will have the right time and right opportunity to look back on his career and the ride we’ve been on that’s been extraordinary.”
But Klopp said he is sure the best is still to come with his side in contention to win the Premier League, Europa League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup this season.
“I am here and I am fully here. Until the end of the season, we have so much to do – I am fully in that,” he said.
“I want to win everything this season, but it wouldn’t change my mind. And if we don’t win anything it wouldn’t change my mind.
“I have no regrets but a lot of special memories. The best memories in my mind are still to come.”