Jürgen Klopp, the previous Liverpool boss, is returning to the football world, having recently accepted the position of global soccer chief at Red Bull.
“After nearly a quarter of a century on the side-lines, I am eager and raring to get invested in a initiative like this,” Klopp expressed, who’s set to officially commence on the 1st of January, 2025. “While my position might have shifted, my fervour for the sport and the people who shape it hasn’t waned at all.”
As per German media, Klopp’s engagement with the multinational conglomerate, backed by the beverage maker, includes an escape clause which paves the way for him to be a candidate for the German national team manager role once Julian Nagelsmann resigns. Nagelsmann, who extended his agreement prior to Euro 2024, is predicted to guide the team through the 2026 World Cup.
Klopp called it a day at Liverpool following the 2023-24 season, wrapping up nearly eight successful years on the Merseyside. He has since kept an active social media presence and was spotted at the Paris Paralympics supporting his close confidant, Wojtek Czyz, a New Zealand badminton athlete.
In the Red Bull position, Klopp seems to be taking on a role akin to that which Michael Edwards, who was Klopp’s peer at Liverpool as sporting director, currently holds. Liverpool’s FSG proprietors have charted a course towards a multi-club possession model.
“No interference in daily operations is expected from him. Instead, he will supervise a collection of clubs that exemplify the intensity that characterised his coaching style,” the official release from Red Bull noted.
Klopp had previously commended the group in July 2022 after a friendly match between Liverpool and RB Salzburg. “Red Bull’s initiative is quite fascinating,” he admitted. “Every year brings changes, with player rotations, yet the quality endures. It’s intriguing to observe their operations. Our football philosophies aren’t too dissimilar.”
The sporting organisation Red Bull comprises RB Leipzig playing in the Bundesliga, New York Red Bulls featuring in MLS, alongside a minority stake in Leeds United, coupled with shirt support, and a plethora of other athletic ventures, including their seven-time world title-winning Formula One team.
A foundational figure in the Red Bull approach is Ralf Rangnick, who later took on the role of Manchester United’s manager, and shared a preference for high-pressing tactics with Klopp. Rangnick, the current coach for Austria, took on the role of Red Bull’s head of sport and development after serving as sporting director at both Salzburg and Leipzig. He occasionally acts as a mentor and trusted advisor to Klopp.
Following a decade-plus management spell distributed equally between Mainz and Borussia Dortmund, and a successful stint at Liverpool that saw Klopp seize a Champions League and a Premier League title, along with other silverware, he said that this will be a shift in career pace. Klopp sees his primary role as guiding coaches and management of Red Bull clubs, while also being an integral part of an innovative, future-oriented and unique institution.
Red Bull in a statement noted that Klopp wouldn’t interfere with club’s daily operations, but provide strategic insight to aid individual sporting directors in promoting the Red Bull ethos.
As for the leadership at Red Bull’s clubs currently, Salzburg is managed by Pepijn Ljinders, Klopp’s assistant from 2018 to 2024, but they are not having a good season so far with two significant Champions League group-stage losses, and a 5-0 defeat from Sturm Graz recently. Leipzig, ran by former Dortmund coach Marco Rose, is currently in second place in the Bundesliga’s current season. The New York division is under the coaching of Sandro Schwarz, another German.