Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher hopes Jurgen Klopp can “go out with a bang” after the German manager announced he will leave the club at the end of the season.

The 56-year-old has admitted he is “running out of energy” having led the club to six major trophies since taking charge in October 2015.

Carragher, who made 737 appearances for the Reds, posted on X, formerly Twitter: “This news was always going to be a body blow to the club whenever it came.

“I just thought it would be another few years away. What a manager, what a man, let’s go out with a bang Jurgen!”

Former Liverpool midfielder Ray Houghton said Klopp’s Anfield achievements were “phenomenal”.

“There was no sign whatsoever that he was going to make the decision that he’s made and obviously, it’s absolutely huge. What he’s done for this club and his time being in charge, nothing short of phenomenal,” Houghton told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“To get them back winning the league, getting them to major finals, getting that pride back in the football club, the joy of playing for Liverpool. It’s been absolutely incredible and the football they’ve played has been a joy to watch. It’s going to be one hell of a pair of shoes to fill.”

Jurgen Klopp has announced he will leave Liverpool at the end of the season, a moment which will bring to an end another successful chapter in the club’s history.

Klopp arrived at Anfield late in 2015, tasked with bringing trophies back to the club.

With four still to play for in this campaign there is every chance he could add to those he has already won, which the PA news agency lists here.

2019/20 – Premier League

Perhaps the one which matters the most to Liverpool fans, Klopp returned the first league title in 30 years as his side finished 17 points clear of Manchester City. The sadness for the supporters was that, as it came during lockdown, no fans were present in the stadium to celebrate the success, which was confirmed when nearest rivals City lost at Chelsea. Klopp’s men won 32 of their 38 games that season.

2021/22 – FA Cup

Liverpool’s run to the final saw them beat Shrewsbury, Cardiff, Norwich and Nottingham Forest, before an all-the-more difficult semi-final assignment against Manchester City. Two goals from Sadio Mane secured a somewhat unexpected win, before beating Chelsea 6-5 on penalties in the final.

2021-22 – League Cup

Beating Chelsea on penalties in the FA Cup final may have felt familiar to Klopp for some three months earlier his side had done the same thing to beat the same opposition and win the League Cup. This time it was a lengthier shoot-out, going all the way to the goalkeepers, with Liverpool’s regular reserve, Caoimhin Kelleher, scoring the decisive penalty for an 11-10 success.

2022 – Community Shield

Liverpool’s FA Cup success meant another showdown with Manchester City, this time in the Community Shield, a match played at Leicester due to the Women’s Euro 2022 final at Wembley. Big-money summer signing Darwin Nunez capped a 3-1 victory and another piece of silverware for Klopp, whose men ran out 3-1 winners.

2019 – Champions League

This one ranks alongside the 2020 Premier League as Klopp’s crowing glory; a sixth European title for Liverpool coming thanks to a 2-0 win over Tottenham in an all-English final played in Madrid. Liverpool booked their place in the final with an improbable come-from-behind semi-final win over Lionel Messi’s all-conquering Barcelona team, while on the night goals from Mo Salah and Divock Origi earned them the Champions League title. The Reds enjoyed great success and consistency in the competition under Klopp too, being losing finalists in 2018 and 2022, while they were also runners-up in the 2016 Europa League.

2019 – UEFA Super Cup

Another final, another penalty shoot-out win over Chelsea, this one coming in Istanbul after a 2-2 draw following extra time between the winners of the Champions and Europa Leagues. Mane scored a brace in the match, before Tammy Abraham’s missed penalty gave Liverpool the title.

2019 – Club World Cup

Roberto Firmino ensured Klopp was able to end 2019 with three non-domestic trophies, with the Club World Cup going alongside the Super Cup and Champions League. The Brazilian scored an injury-time winner in a 2-1 semi-final win over Monterrey in Qatar, before his extra-time winner saw off Flamengo to win the final 1-0.

Jurgen Klopp will stand down as Liverpool manager at the end of the season.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at the German’s career at Anfield in pictures over the years.

Jurgen Klopp has shocked the world of football by announcing he will stand down as Liverpool manager at the end of the season after admitting he is “running out of energy”.

The 56-year-old German, who has led the Reds to six major trophies since taking charge in October 2015, said he informed the club’s bosses of his decision to leave back in November.

Klopp admitted he expected those outside the club to “laugh about” his exit and use it as an excuse to “disturb” Liverpool, but called on everyone connected to the Reds to rally around for a glorious finale.

His departure has immediately led to speculation over who will succeed him in the Anfield hotseat.

Former Reds midfielder Xabi Alonso, who is one of the hottest coaching properties in the world after leading Bayer Leverkusen to the top of the Bundesliga, is the early bookmakers’ favourite while former captain Steven Gerrard is also sure to be in contention.

“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,” Klopp told his club’s official website.

“I love everything. But that I still take this decision shows you that I am convinced it is the one I have to take.

“It is that I am – how can I say it? – running out of energy. I have no problem now, obviously, I knew it already for longer that I will have to announce it at one point, but I am absolutely fine now. I know that I cannot do the job again and again and again and again.”

Klopp joined Liverpool as the successor to Brendan Rodgers, and arrived with a strong CV having taken Borussia Dortmund to successive Bundesliga titles in 2011 and 2012, and to the 2013 Champions League final.

His greatest achievements to date with the Reds are the Premier League title in 2020, when they became the only club other than Manchester City to secure the top-flight crown in the last five seasons, and winning the Champions League in 2019.

The Reds have also won the FA Cup, League Cup, Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup during his time in charge.

Liverpool are still in the hunt in four competitions this season and Klopp is determined the club can shut out the chatter and the sniping from outside and end his era on a high.

“Let’s now really go for it. The outside world want to use this decision, laugh about it, want to disturb us,” he said.

“We are Liverpool, we went through harder things together. And you went through harder things before me. Let’s make a strength of it. That would be really cool. Let’s squeeze everything out of this season and have another thing to smile about when we look back in the future.”

Mike Gordon, the president of the Fenway Sports Group which owns Liverpool, said the club would take a “business as usual” approach to Klopp’s exit.

Gordon said: “It goes without saying that we will be hugely saddened to lose not just a manager of such calibre, but a person and leader for whom we have enormous respect, gratitude and affection.

“At the same time, we fully respect his wishes and the reasons why he has decided the current season will be his last at Liverpool.

“In keeping with Jurgen’s expressed wishes, we will save the comprehensive tributes for a more appropriate time but, nevertheless, we would be remiss if we did not take this opportunity to reaffirm that his appointment remains one of the greatest blessings of our time as owners.

“The incredible achievements of the intervening years speak for themselves, so too does the joy that Jurgen and his team have brought to all of us supporters. His many accomplishments will never be taken for granted.”

Jurgen Klopp will stand down as Liverpool manager at the end of the season, the German has announced.

The 56-year-old has informed the club’s ownership of his decision to stand down, having taken charge at Liverpool in 2015.

Klopp has won six trophies with the Reds, including the Premier League title in 2020 and the Champions League trophy the year before.

Aston Villa’s Leander Dendoncker has joined Napoli on loan for the rest of the season.

The midfielder moves to the defending Serie A champions as they struggle to retain their title, sitting ninth and 21 points off leaders Juventus.

He has made 15 appearances for Villa this season, scoring once, having joined from Wolves in 2022.

Kalvin Phillips has completed his loan move from Manchester City to West Ham, the clubs have announced.

The England midfielder will spend the rest of the season at the London Stadium.

The 28-year-old has been frustrated by a lack of game time at City since joining the club from Leeds in the summer of 2022.

Phillips told the Hammers’ website: “I’m really pleased to be here. There’s always been a lot of speculation about me moving to West Ham, so I’m really excited to get going now.

“There’s so much to look forward to in the second half of the season for the club and I can’t wait to be part of it.

“There’s an unbelievable group here and if I can come in and add the quality that I know I’m capable of, I’m sure we can give the West Ham fans plenty to be excited about between now and the end of the season.”

It had been reported the deal could include an option for West Ham to buy the player in the summer but it is understood that was not included in the final agreement.

What the papers say

Newcastle could look to sell striker Callum Wilson, who has scored seven goals for the Magpies in the Premier League this season, for just £18million before the January transfer window closes, the Standard reports. Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal have been alerted to the potential sale of the 31-year-old.

The Mirror says United manager Erik ten Hag is interested in Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite and Ajax striker Brian Brobbey but is no longer in control of transfers.

Wolves have hit a hurdle in their pursuit of Chelsea striker Armando Broja as they try to come in line with Premier League spending rules, according to the Daily Mail.

Social media round-upPlayers to watch

Morgan Rogers: The Middlesbrough forward is ready to join Aston Villa despite his club rejecting two bids for the move, the Daily Mail reports.

Daniel Munoz: Crystal Palace are reportedly close to signing the 27-year-old Colombian right-back from Belgian team Genk, according to the South London Press.

Pep Guardiola has joked Manchester United should name a stand after Omar Berrada if their incoming chief executive proves to have the magic touch.

Berrada quit his role as chief football operations officer at rivals Manchester City last weekend after being offered the senior position at Old Trafford.

The appointment is a major coup for United with Berrada having been a key off-field part of City’s recent triumphs, but Guardiola has warned that his fellow Spaniard is no instant guarantee of success.

The City manager said: “Obviously his knowledge goes to United, that’s the reality.

“When you buy a player from another club you buy the knowledge that this player has had in the past with other managers and team-mates. That is normal.

“We learned a lot from Omar and he’s learned a lot from the club, and now he’s gone to United.

“But Kevin De Bruyne is still in Man City, De Bruyne will play here. Erling Haaland will play here, so in the end it’s not that simple. Otherwise, with the power of United, they would have done it before.

“Maybe United think with this person everything is going to change – congratulations. I don’t know if this is going to happen.

“He is a lovely person, an incredible character, incredible professional. Yesterday I saw him, we hugged and I wished him all the best. Deeply, I wish him the best because he’s a fantastic person.

“But I don’t know if by doing this (clicks his fingers) everything is going to be sorted and it works.

“If it does happen then, oh my God, they have to make a stand for Omar Berrada in the future because he’d deserve it.”

Guardiola insists there are no hard feelings over Berrada’s departure and is confident City will appoint wisely when it comes to naming his successor.

He said: “We try to keep the best people here but this kind of thing can happen.

“The club will move forward. We’ll find a way to replace him and we’ll continue. We will be well prepared, we will adapt and adjust and move forward.”

Guardiola, meanwhile, has suggested striker Erling Haaland could return to action as the champions host Burnley in the Premier League next Wednesday.

The Norwegian has been sidelined for almost two months with a foot injury but is now back in training.

Guardiola said: “It will be eight weeks now, almost two months this or next weekend. In the process he feels good and now he needs time to make the rhythm and we’ll start to give him minutes when he is fit.

“We’ll give him three or four days and hopefully against Burnley he can play his first minutes.”

Pep Guardiola has hit back at UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin over comments the European governing body was right to punish the club for financial irregularities.

UEFA banned City from European competition for two years in February 2020 for breaching its Financial Fair Play rules but the ban was later overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

CAS found that some of the charges against City were “not established” and others were time-barred.

Yet Ceferin is adamant his organisation was correct, telling the Daily Telegraph: “We know we were right. We wouldn’t decide if we didn’t think we were right.”

His remarks came as City await a Premier League hearing after being charged with 115 breaches of their domestic competition’s profit and sustainability rules.

City manager Guardiola feels that by speaking out now, Ceferin has not respected the ongoing process.

Guardiola said: “As the lawyer that he is, as president of UEFA, he should wait – and after do whatever he wants.

“He has to respect it and he has to wait. He has a lot of jobs to do at UEFA. A lawyer should respect the procedure. He knows we have the right to defend ourselves.”

Guardiola was speaking at a press conference to preview his side’s FA Cup fourth-round tie at Tottenham on Friday.

City will again be without striker Erling Haaland but the Norwegian is now nearing a return after almost two months out with a foot injury.

Guardiola said: “He is on the verge of coming back. For Friday he is not ready but he is close.

“The training camp was good, he trained some sessions. The last few days he’s trained but it is not perfect and we will wait a little bit more.”

John Stones is back in contention after an ankle injury but fellow defender Manuel Akanji remains on the sidelines. Goalkeeper Ederson is also fit after limping off in City’s last game at Newcastle.

City have lost on all five of their previous visits to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium without even scoring a goal.

Guardiola said: “That is the reality, (and shows) how tough it is for us.

“Of course this is a ‘final’, a knockout game and to go through we have to score goals. Always it is a new opportunity to break it.

“The feeling is most of the times we played really good but the reality is there, no goals, five defeats – so they were much better than us.”

Mauricio Pochettino described Unai Emery as “one of the best coaches in the world” ahead of Chelsea’s FA Cup fourth-round clash against Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea booked their place in the Carabao Cup final on Tuesday and they will look to advance in another competition against Premier League high-flyers Villa on Friday.

Villa side sit five points behind leaders Liverpool in the league and have been rejuvenated under Spanish boss Emery since he joined from Villarreal in 2022.

“I think that Unai Emery is one of the best coaches in the world and he’s creating a very good organisation at Aston Villa,” Pochettino told a press conference on Thursday.

“They have very good players, amazing players.

“It is clear the project of Aston Villa and that’s why they are performing and winning games.

“It doesn’t surprise me (that they are in the top four) I am so happy for him and all the people involved in this project.

“You can feel that they are a very solid team with clear ideas. It is a very good group of players.”

Ollie Watkins’ second-half winner separated the two sides during Villa’s 1-0 league victory over the 10-man Blues at Stamford Bridge in September.

And Pochettino believes Chelsea would have won the game if it was not for Malo Gusto’s 58th-minute red card for a challenge on Lucas Digne and felt his side lost confidence after the defeat.

“To be honest this was the type of game we should win,” Pochettino said.

“We had chances to score before Gusto got sent off in the second half and we performed really well.

“All the confidence went to Birmingham and we lost all the confidence for us to be in the position that they are now.

“I think it was an even game but they were clinical in the second half. We deserved more but full credit to them for what they are doing.

“We cannot play with 10 men against a team like Aston Villa because they can punish you.”

Chelsea’s 6-1 victory over Middlesbrough in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg booked their place at Wembley, where they will face Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool on February 25.

Chelsea lost both the FA Cup and Carabao Cup finals against Liverpool in 2022 and are seeking their first trophy since lifting the Club World Cup that same year.

Pochettino talked up the occasion, highlighting the “massive challenge” of facing Klopp’s in-form Reds.

“We are going to face a very solid and consistent team. They will be a tough opponent and it will be a massive challenge for us,” he said.

“It has all the ingredients in the final to be a massive challenge and it will be good to play Liverpool. It will be tough but it will be a great final.”

Manchester City have completed a move for highly-rated Argentinian midfielder Claudio Echeverri from River Plate, the Premier League champions have announced.

The 18-year-old, who is understood to have cost City in the region of £12.5million with add-ons, has signed a contract until the summer of 2028, but will remain at River until January next year.

A statement on the club’s official website said: “Manchester City have completed the signing of Argentinian midfielder Claudio Echeverri from River Plate.

“Everyone at Manchester City is looking forward to welcoming Claudio to the club and we wish him the best of luck in his remaining time with River.”

Echeverri will travel the same path as Julian Alvarez, who arrived at the Etihad Stadium from River Plate in 2022.

The teenager, who turned 18 earlier this month, has already made six senior appearances for the Buenos Aries club, which is managed by former City defender Martin Demichelis, and captained Argentina to the semi-finals of the Under-17 World Cup in November and December last year.

Echeverri, who has trained with the senior national team, scored a hat-trick in a 3-0 quarter-final victory over Brazil, but saw his side lose out on penalties to Germany in the last four.

What the papers say

Napoli striker Victor Osimhen has made a decision over where he will play next in his career, the Daily Mail reports. However, it is yet to be confirmed if he will go for Manchester United, Chelsea, or Arsenal, as all three Premier League clubs are reportedly keen on the Nigeria international.

The Daily Mail also states that Southampton, Burnley, and Leicester all have their eye on attacking midfielder Callum O’Hare, who is out of contract with Coventry in the summer.

Manchester United have refused to continue talks to obtain Karim Benzema due to “exorbitant” sums being sought for the 36-year-old, Sky Sports reports.

Social media round-upPlayers to watch

Joshua Kimmich: Liverpool and Manchester City are going head-to-head to sign the midfielder from Bayern Munich, writes Bild.

Martin Dubravka: Newcastle’s Slovakia goalkeeper is considering his future at the club, according to i Sport.

Mason Greenwood: Manchester United plan to recoup £100million via the sale of players this summer, with the 22-year-old English forward leading the list, writes i Sport.

Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City have all slipped down the rankings in the latest Deloitte Football Money League as clubs from continental Europe gained ground.

Liverpool have had the biggest fall of any club in the top 20, from third place down to seventh, after Deloitte found their revenue had dropped slightly from £594.3million to £593.8m.

Deloitte attributed that fall to the Reds’ on-field performance, with the club finishing fifth in the Premier League last season and bowing out in the Champions League last 16.

Manchester United dropped one place to fifth despite a healthier revenue figure than the season before, while treble winners City were leapfrogged by Real Madrid and now sit second, despite posting a record Premier League revenue figure in their most recent accounts.

The Money League looks at revenue figures reported in clubs’ annual accounts for the 2022-23 season and does not look at operating costs.

Tottenham and Chelsea switched places compared to last year, with Spurs up one place to eighth, while Arsenal held on to 10th position.

Real led the way with revenue of £723m in 2022-23, demonstrating the club are doing well out of European football’s current ecosystem, despite their president Florentino Perez being arguably the most staunch advocate for a Super League.

Paris St Germain enter the top three for the first time, while Barcelona moved up three places to seventh with a revenue figure of £696m.

Tim Bridge, the lead partner in Deloitte’s Sports Business Group, told the PA news agency: “There is a point in time, a moment here, where you’ve got Real Madrid and Barcelona redeveloping their stadiums, they have made moves towards controlling much more of their operations, particularly merchandising and licensing, so those revenue figures are a result of direct changes they have made to their business model.

“When we look at the Premier League holistically we’re not 100 per cent certain the days of significant domestic growth in media rights is over, but what we can say is, without significant competition coming into that market, then single-figure percentage growth is the likely outcome in that domestic market. Therefore the focus is on what can be done in the international market.

“What has always underpinned the fact there have been 10 or 11 Premier League clubs in the Money League has been that the media rights growth has given them significant distributions. Other leagues have caught up and there has been a slight plateauing of Premier League rights.”

Deloitte said the top 20 clubs had earned 10.5billion euros (£9bn) collectively, a 14 per cent increase on the previous season.

Barcelona Femeni were the top-earning women’s club in the world, with revenue rising by 74 per cent to £11.6m.

Modernising Old Trafford and improving the matchday experience could help Manchester United achieve “revolutionary” growth in revenue, a football finance expert has said.

The Red Devils may have gone a decade without a Premier League title and 15 years without winning the Champions League, but commercially they remain a success story.

They dropped one place to fifth in the Deloitte Football Money League but earned a club record £648m for 2022-23, which briefly stood as a Premier League record before Manchester City announced their results for the same period in November last year.

Tim Bridge, the lead partner in Deloitte’s Sports Business Group, hailed their enduring ability to generate revenue despite their on-field struggles, but believes upgrading Old Trafford could elevate them above their Premier League and European peers in commercial terms.

“What is so impressive (about United) is that resilience, that ability to continue to generate significant commercial return in the market, to find new (commercial) partners,” Bridge told the PA news agency.

“They have this way to engage with commercial partners in a way that few other clubs can.

“But you could also flip it around and also talk about what is the scale of the opportunity if they got it right. There have been a lot of reports around the current conditions at Old Trafford, there has been a lot of comparison to other football stadiums and the overall offering.

“I genuinely believe that if they had a genuine matchday offering that kept the fans in and around the stadium in the way that you have at somewhere like Tottenham, the results from a revenue perspective could be revolutionary and really outplay the rest of the competition.

“Because they still generate £100million-plus from Old Trafford and yet in experience terms, compared to what is also available on the market, or what may be available on the market from a Real Madrid or a Barcelona in the future, then the two are probably not comparable.

“So the strength of their brand, the strength of their fanbase, the loyalty is absolutely incredible and is extremely resilient and impressive.”

Ineos is set to invest 300 million US dollars (£235m) on club infrastructure after securing a 25 per cent stake in United.

Supporters have issued a number of complaints about the stadium, highlighting in particular leaks in its roof.