Rudi Völler will fulfil his contract until Euro 2028 as sporting director at the German Football Federation (DFB), having talked to designated new national team coach Jürgen Klopp and DFB top officials.

Völler told reporters from five German media outlets on Tuesday that he wants to contribute to the rebuilding of the team after Germany were eliminated from the World Cup early for the third time in a row last week, going out in the round of 32 against Paraguay.

Coach Julian Nagelsmann resigned and it was not clear if Völler would stay.

But Völler confirmed to dailies Bild, Frankfurter Rundschau, Süddeutsche Zeitung, publishing house Funke and Kicker sports magazine that Klopp had assured him in a phone call on Saturday that they could work together.

“It quickly became clear that, in the end, it can and will work out,” the 1990 World Cup winner Völler said. "The whole package made me decide to continue."

Völler said he talked with DFB president Bernd Neuendorf and vice-president Hans-Joachim Watzke. He said he was called by Oliver Mintzlaff, the managing director of Red Bull, who will need to release Klopp out of his Head of Global Soccer contract to allow the former Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool coach to take over the national team.

"I would like to continue with Rudi. I believe that he and Jürgen would work wonderfully together. They have to join forces at some point," Watzke had told broadcaster ZDF on Monday.

Watzke, who is also president of Dortmund and close with Klopp after he coached there, is expected in the US later this week together with Neuendorf to hold talks with the 59-year-old.

Klopp is a pundit at the World Cup in North America for MagentaTV.

Völler became sporting director in early 2023 after Germany's group stage exit at the 2022 tournament and was influential in bringing in Nagelsmann later that year in succession of Hansi Flick.

Völler named the decision to part ways with Nagelsmann now the right one and said that his job profile won't really change with Klopp.

"All the eyes will be on Jürgen at first," he said, adding that "I will be there and support him" if it is getting too much for Klopp.

Völler won the World Cup as a player in 1990 and coached Germany 2000-2004, reaching the World Cup final in 2002.

Meanwhile, Bayern Munich honorary president Uli Hoeness wants former World Cup winner Per Mertesacker to take on a role in German football.

Hoeness, who helped West Germany lift the trophy in 1974, thinks the DFB needs more new recruits to end the malaise.

Mertesacker was part of the 2014-winning squad and spent eight years as Arsenal's youth academy director. He has been working during the World Cup as a German television pundit.

"He has extensive international experience. He has always shown how well he can deal with people," Hoeness told Bild.

"Everything Per Mertesacker says on television is sound. He is never insulting but still critical. If you were at Arsenal for eight years, you must be able to do something and that is exactly what we need now."

Hoeness added that Mertesacker would not do it for the money, but because he would be motivated by the challenge of building something and moving forward with passion.

ZDF pundit Mertesacker, 41, said recently: "At some point working at the DFB and giving something back to German football, to which I owe so much, appeals to me. Of course I am available for that,"

A successor must be found for managing director for sport Andreas Rettig, who is leaving the DFB at the end of the year.