Klopp to leave Dortmund in summer

The Bundesliga side have announced they have agreed to end their coach's contract early and have paid tribute to the 47-year-old as he prepares to step down after seven years.

The former Mainz boss took the reins at BVB in the summer of 2008 and led the club to an extraordinary period of success, winning two Bundesliga titles and a DFB Pokal, as well as reaching the Champions League final.

However, the Westfalenstadion club have struggled this year and sit a lowly 10th in the league and the 47-year-old will step aside at the season's end, despite having three years left to run on his contract.

"Borussia Dortmund and coach Jurgen Klopp have agreed to an early termination of their contract, which originally ran to June 2018," a club statement read.

Speaking at a press conference, CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke revealed that the coach had held talks with the club on the subject over the last few days and paid tribute to Klopp.

"We had some talks on Jurgen's initiative and then made the decision that the way we have been working together incredible success over the past seven years comes to an end at the end of the season.

"We have a relationship that is built on trust and friendship. Therefore it is obviously a difficult situation for us.

"Jurgen, you can be sure that you have the eternal gratitude of BVB."

Klopp, meanwhile, insisted that he should not have anyone's gratitude and revealed that he felt that it was the right time to step aside.

"No one should be grateful to me. It is a very fair history in which both sides have given and taken," he said.

"As I have said several times in recent years, I always wanted to let the club know if I didn't believe that I was the perfect coach for this extraordinary job.

"In the last few days and weeks I've not been sure that I'm the right person. But even I couldn't answer this question properly. Therefore I felt dutybound to myself and Watzke to be honest.

"I am sure that this is absolutely the right decision. This team deserves to have a 100 per cent coach on the touchline."

Thomas Tuchel has been installed as the early favourite to replace Klopp at Signal Iduna Park. (Goal)