Hoffenheim coach Julian Nagelsmann will leave his post at the end of the 2018/19 season, the club have confirmed.
Nagelsmann's contract was due to run until 2021, but the 30-year-old has opted to take advantage of a release clause that allows him to depart at the end of the upcoming campaign.
The youngest coach in Bundesliga history, Nagelsmann guided Hoffenheim to a top-four finish in each of the last two seasons, missing out on a UEFA Champions League place in 2017/18 after a play-off with Liverpool, but securing an automatic berth for the coming year.
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Julian #Nagelsmann will leave TSG at the end of the 2018/19 season. The 30-year-old head coach has been in charge of #Hoffenheim's Bundesliga club since 2015.
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— TSG Hoffenheim EN (@achtzehn99_en) 21 June 2018
"It was important to me to do this early to establish clarity in my relationships," said Nagelsmann. "I owe it to the club and its employees – as well as the team and the fans – to ensure that this historic upcoming season, in which we will play Champions League football for the first time, does not become dominated by speculation about my future.
"Now that everyone is aware of how things stand, we can concentrate on the tough tests in a professional fashion. Everyone is aware that I will give everything for TSG until the very last second of my time here and will do everything to achieve our ambitious aims."
Watch: Nagelsmann is Germany's coaching prodigy!
"We knew about the release clause in the contract, something hardly uncommon in the world of professional football," said Alexander Rosen, Hoffenheim sporting director. "It speaks well of Julian's character that he has put his cards on the table now in public and ensured clarity."
Nagelsmann has been at Hoffenheim in a coaching capacity for over nine years – since ending his playing career early due to injuries – and rescued the first team from relegation after taking over from Huub Stevens in February 2015, before leading a vibrant, young side to successive top-four finishes.
Source: bundesliga.com