German coach Jurgen Klopp has taken up his post as head of global football for Red Bull, his first job since leaving Liverpool last year.
Red Bull owns several clubs, including Bundesliga side RB Leipzig.
The former Liverpool, Borussia Dortmund and Mainz head coach is to provide strategic vision, support scouting and develop coaches. He will not be involved in the day-to-day operations of the Red Bull clubs, which extend from Leipzig and Hamburg to the United States, Brazil and Japan.
“This is what I wanted to do. I accomplished this at Liverpool seven months ago. I did it deliberately,” he told a news conference in Hamburg on Tuesday.
“I don’t want to be a passenger or a dominant person in the room. I really want to put some value on it… We’ll see how it looks. There’s no one plan that works for all teams.”
Klopp will officially start working at Red Bull on January 1, 2025, after being named to the position last October.
The 57-year-old German coach left Liverpool after winning one Champions League and one Premier League title since joining in 2015.
Why did Klopp sign with Red Bull?
Just a week after receiving Germany’s highest civilian order, where Klopp was given a warm welcome, the news last autumn came as a major shock.
Klopp’s decision to take the job has come as a surprise, and not just because it comes just four months after he took a sabbatical. While the 57-year-old is famous for being the face of numerous brands, his coaching career has been spent with traditional clubs, which sits in opposition to everything Red Bull stands for and this news will disappoint many of his fans. Despite being a traditionalist, Klopp has previously spoken out in favor of the RB and this job could be seen as a bridge towards taking the Germany head coach job in the future.
“I know how criticized the idea of RB Leipzig is by football traditionalists. I am also a traditionalist. However, I think that Leipzig have not taken anything away from traditional clubs. They simply set out on a new path. Gone,” he said two years ago.
“In the beginning, in the third or fourth division, money played a big role. But now they don’t have more money than any other Bundesliga club. They qualify for the Champions League, so they have more money ” Certainly, their wage budget is no higher than Dortmund or Bayern.”
Why is it controversial?
The Austrian company owns several football clubs around the world, invests heavily in promoting extreme sports and owns two Formula 1 teams. Red Bull has particularly faced opposition in German football, where the creation of RB Leipzig in 2009 was met with widespread uproar by fans across the country who alleged the club’s breach of the country’s 50+1 ownership rules. which was designed to make a club pay. Members have ultimate control over the clubs. The club’s rise has been accompanied by intense opposition from football supporters throughout Germany, who see the newcomers as a symbol of the rapidly increasing commercialization of the sport.
What has been the reaction?
One of the first to comment Hans Joachim Watzke. The Dortmund CEO was Klopp’s boss at Dortmund and also holds key positions in the DFB (German Football Association) and UEFA, which runs European football.
“As always, I wish Jürgen all the best in his new job,” he told press agency SID. “It wasn’t a surprise to me because we talked about it.”
Can he still become Germany head coach?
According to Sky Germany reports, his contract includes a clause that would allow him to become Germany head coach in the future. If Julian Nagelsmann steps down after the 2026 World Cup, Klopp could step in for the 2028 Euros, which will be hosted by England, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Edited by: Matt Pearson
This article was originally published on October 9, 2024. It was updated on January 14, 2025.
