Klopp set to leave Borussia Dortmund at the end of the season

Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp has asked to leave the club, according to the German publication BILD.

BVB have scheduled a press conference for this morning where it is believed the news will be officially released.

Klopp’s current contract runs until 2018, but the 47-year-old has reportedly told Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke he wants to leave at the conclusion of the season.

According to BILD, Thomas Tuchel, who replaced Klopp at Mainz, is the leading candidate to take over for the manager this summer. Tuchel was offered the Hamburg job earlier this week but turned it down.

Under Klopp’s guidance, Dortmund won back-to-back Bundesliga titles in 2011 and 2012 and reached the 2013 Champions League final.

However, this season the team has struggled in the Bundesliga and are in danger of missing out on European football altogether next season. They were also eliminated from the Champions League in the round of 16 by Juventus.

In the past, Klopp has been linked with a host of managerial positions including Liverpool and Arsenal.

Should the Dortmund boss leave the club in the summer, his name will undoubtedly be mentioned as a possible replacement to any manager who might currently be on the hot seat.

The manager is reportedly unlikely to take a sabbatical (a la Pep Guardiola). So it is safe to say he will made the frontrunner to take over for under-fire Manchester City boss, Manuel Pellegrini.

Klopp’s departure from the club could also cue the exit of defender Mats Hummels, who has been heavily-linked with a summer move to Manchester United.