Jurgen Klopp's 'mega salary' stopped national team takeover

German FA vice president Ralph-Uwe Schaffert has claimed that Jurgen Klopp's enormous salary means that the Liverpool manager can't take over as manager of his country – suggesting the Reds' boss earns up to €50m a year.

Klopp has been regularly linked with the Germany national team manager's gig over the years, as a result of his success at club level with Liverpool and Dortmund.

The 56-year-old was supposedly one of the names in the frame earlier this year before Julian Nagelsmann was appointed ahead of Euro 2024.

Speaking during the summer, Klopp called the Germany job a 'great honour' but insisted he would never leave Liverpool mid-contract to take the role, or attempt to do both positions simultaneously.

“The job of national coach is and would be a great honour - there's no question about that,” he said. “The problem that stands in the way of the whole thing is my loyalty. I can't just leave Liverpool now and say I'll take over Germany for a short time. That doesn't work and the request isn't even there.

“If I'm supposed to do that at some point, then I have to be available and I'm not currently. I have a responsibility towards the club.

“Basically, it's an interesting job. But I don't know yet whether I'll do something completely different after I leave Liverpool. I want to keep my options open.”

While those comments left open the possibility of Klopp taking up the Germany job in the future, Schaffert has revealed that the German FA simply don't have the funds to afford him on his current wage.

Speaking to the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung (via Focus Online), the vice president said: “The DFB (German FA) can’t pay Jurgen Klopp at all, he earns a fixed €24m a year plus €26m guaranteed advertising income – so €50m.”

He added: “It’s all gone through the roof so much that it’s almost impossible to reduce it. It has to be less. With Nagelsmann it has already become less.”

Schaffert's claims regarding Klopp's income are in excess of what has previously been reported.

Most estimates claim the following his contract extension in 2022, the Liverpool boss is on around £300k a week basic pay, or £15.6m (€18m) per year  – some way short of Schaffert's figures. This does not, however, factor in advertising deals, with Klopp earning added income from the likes of adidas and Peloton.

Klopp's current deal at Anfield runs until 2026.