Rudi Völler is staying put. The DFB has confirmed the German legend will see out his contract as sporting director through to UEFA Euro 2028 — and the man reportedly pushing for that continuity is Jürgen Klopp.
According to Sky Germany, Klopp — who is set to become Germany's next Bundestrainer — has already spoken with Völler by phone. The message was clear: keep him in place. When the man you're about to work with specifically wants you around, that's about as strong a vote of confidence as you can get.
New York, Friday — the talks begin
Formal negotiations between Klopp and the DFB are scheduled to kick off on Friday, 10 July, in New York. His exit from Red Bull, where he currently serves as Global Head of Soccer, follows shortly after. There are still threads to untangle, but the direction has been set for a while now.
What this pairing could mean for Germany is genuinely interesting. Völler provides institutional knowledge and credibility — he steadied the ship after a period of real turbulence in German football. Klopp brings intensity, a track record of building cohesive teams from scratch, and the kind of public profile that can shift a nation's relationship with its national side.
Germany are co-hosting Euro 2028 alongside the UK and Ireland. The tournament is four years away, which is exactly the runway Klopp will need to build something with an actual identity rather than just patching results together. Germany's odds to perform on home soil — or near it — will look very different once this setup is formally locked in and the squad-building begins in earnest.
Völler's contract runs to 2028. Klopp's deal is being negotiated now. The structure is in place — everything else is detail.
