Coach Juergen Klopp will leave Borussia Dortmund at the end of the season despite a contract running to 2018, a source at the Bundesliga club told Reuters on Wednesday.
The source did not provide any further details regarding one of the Bundesliga’s most popular coaches but the club has called a press conference for 1.30 p.m. local time (1130 GMT) on Wednesday.
German daily Bild newspaper earlier reported on its website that Klopp had asked to be released from his contract and that former Mainz 05 coach Thomas Tuchel was to replace him.
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Dortmund have had a dismal domestic campaign which saw the club Klopp led to titles in 2011 and 2012 battle with relegation until recently.
The Bild report, widely circulated throughout the German media on Wednesday, said Klopp had himself asked for his contract, due to run until 2018, be dissolved at the end of the season and would most likely take a year out.
Klopp took over at Dortmund in 2008 and won two league titles in 2011 and 2012 as well as the German Cup as he challenged Bayern Munich for dominance in the Bundesliga while also reaching the Champions League final in 2013.
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Enthusiastic, spontaneous and emotional, Klopp has long been a crowd favourite at the former European champions, helping them restore their position as Bundesliga heavyweights with an exciting brand of attacking football.
His stint also coincided with Dortmund’s financial growth after the club was on the brink of bankruptcy in 2005.
But it all went wrong this season with a poor first half with Dortmund falling to last place in the Bundesliga before a revival since the turn of the year has seen them rise to 10th with six matches left.
They were also eliminated by Juventus in the Champions League round of 16 but are through to the semifinals of the German Cup, their best chance of booking a European spot for next season.
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The 47-year-old Klopp, who has long been courted by top European clubs, also coached Mainz 05 between 2001 and 2008.
Tuchel, who also coached Mainz between 2009 and last year, had initially been seen as the next Hamburg SV coach but the northern club announced earlier on Wednesday it had ended talks with Tuchel and appointed Bruno Labbadia on a 15-month contract.
