Jürgen Klopp looks all set to become the German national team's next coach, with talks with football federation President Bernd Neuendorf and Vice President Hans-Joachim Watzke reportedly set for next week.
Klopp is in the U.S. as a World Cup pundit and appears to be staying there for the tournament's duration. Sources close to the federation said its leading duo would be heading over the Atlantic for direct talks. Klopp has already indicated his interest in the role.
Neuendorf had only recently returned from the U.S. following Germany's World Cup last-32 exit at the hands of Paraguay. While back in Germany, he presided over talks with Julian Nagelsmann, which led to the coach resigning Friday.
Now the DFB president is going back to the U.S., with New York seen as the likely venue for discussions given Klopp's World Cup base is there.
The 59-year-old former Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool coach is currently Head of Global Soccer at Red Bull and a deal must also be done with the sports franchise group.
Watzke is also going to the U.S., given he has close ties with Klopp from their many years together at Dortmund, where Watzke was chief executive.
Klopp told MagentaTV that the deal will take time and that "it will have to be intensive talks because the problems we have at the moment are not linked to the person Julian Nagelsmann."
Four-time winners, Germany, have gone out early in three straight World Cups.
Whether DFB sporting director Rudi Völler will also play a key role in the future of the national team depends, according to dpa sources, on the appointment of a coach.
An exchange between 1990 World Cup winner Völler and Klopp in the near future is also being considered. Völler's DFB contract runs until Euro 2028.
Klopp has been out of coaching since leaving Liverpool two years ago in order to have a break from the touchline, having racked up two Bundesliga titles, a Premier League title and a Champions League over the past 15 years.
"I am more than recharged now, so I am ready," he told MagentaTV.
Klopp praised Nagelsmann as an "extraordinary coach" and said the situation would be very different had Germany not lost against Paraguay.
"But now things are as they are. Julian has resigned, and the DFB is looking to appoint a successor; as part of their deliberations, they approached me," he said.
The likely future Germany boss caused a furor earlier in the World Cup when he said Nagelsmann was in the job "for now." Klopp apologized for the joke.
Klopp said he has also talked to his boss at Red Bull, Oliver Mintzlaff, and that a solution must be found. Klopp has a Red Bull contract until 2029.
"Ideally, in the end, there are only winners following a situation like this; you simply say, ‘OK, Red Bull must be able to come out of this with its reputation intact,'" Klopp said.
