Jürgen Klopp has confirmed he’s in negotiations to take over as Germany coach and says he’s “recharged” the energy he was missing when he left Liverpool.

Klopp is the German soccer federation’s preferred candidate after Julian Nagelsmann resigned Friday, four days after Germany lost on penalties to Paraguay in the World Cup round of 32.

“Julian has stepped down and the (federation) is working on the succession and has approached me in the course of those considerations,” said Klopp, speaking from New York on German broadcaster Magenta TV in his role as a World Cup commentator late Friday.

Klopp was the only coach named in a federation statement on the team’s future, which said Klopp had “signaled his willingness” to take over.

Klopp said talks would take time because of his current contract as head of global soccer for Red Bull’s network of clubs.

Klopp hasn’t coached since he left Liverpool in 2024, saying at the time he was “running out of energy” after eight years with the club where he won the Premier League and Champions League.

“About two years ago I stopped at Liverpool and said that I lacked the energy for another job or for another year with Liverpool. Since then I’m more than recharged, I’m ready,” he said.

Germany’s next coach will need to make sweeping changes and he said he would need “intensive talks” with the federation to agree on the key points of how to transform the team’s fortunes.

It was the third men’s World Cup in a row that Germany has not reached the round of 16. Germany hasn’t won a knockout game since beating Argentina in the 2014 final.

Klopp said Nagelsmann was an “excellent coach” and not to blame for the team’s deeper problems.

“German soccer is obviously at a turning point now,” Klopp said. “Now we need to change things fundamentally. Whether that’s me in the end or whoever it may be, that doesn’t change the fact that changes are necessary.”

Klopp has had a high-profile presence as a pundit on German TV at the World Cup, even taking part in postgame interviews with Nagelsmann at the side of the field. In the immediate aftermath of the Paraguay loss, he said he hadn’t thought about taking on the Germany job.

___

See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here