Sitting in his luxurious villa on the Spanish island of Mallorca, Jurgen Klopp watched the team of his past play against the club of his future, 900 miles away in Leipzig.
The 57-year-old German’s impending arrival as a key figure within the Red Bull system served as a bearded and bespectacled elephant in the room ahead of the Champions League match between RB Leipzig and Liverpool last month.
Although absent, Klopp was a spiritual presence at press conferences, in conversations and in whispers around the match in the build-up to that match. the Red Bull Arena – a venue he will undoubtedly become well acquainted with in the coming weeks and months.
Before a ball was kicked, Mail Sport traveled to Germany to speak to decision-makers, players and coaches within RB Leipzig to better understand what Klopp’s role ahead will be – not just for the current Bundesliga leaders, but also within the system as a whole.
The picture outlined shows that Klopp plays an advisory role within the entire group. While this is likely to benefit the system as a whole, it will nonetheless remain controversial in Germany, where some believe Klopp has turned his back on the teams he once led.
The addition of Jurgen Klopp to the Red Bull football system could bring major changes for the clubs
Klopp’s official title for Red Bull is Head of Global Football – a role he will start on New Year’s Day 2025 on a four-year contract.
For your information, the clubs within the Red Bull system are RB Leipzig in Germany, the New York Red Bulls of the MLS and Red Bull Bragantino of the Brazilian Serie A, as well as the newly acquired Omiya Ardija in Japan. Red Bull Salzburg in Austria is not included, as that club has a separate management structure.
While Klopp will not be in charge of one specific club, he will instead oversee clubs across the system.
As RB Leipzig director Johann Plenge told Mail Sport, Klopp’s role will be a “balance between having someone who gives you a goal, asks questions, challenges things that you can only challenge if you are part of the system, but you’re not’. actually a colleague who sees each other every day. We expect that from him.’
Plenge added: “I expect he will be a very, very important person, but probably more in the background. He will not be sitting next to the coach or on the pitch during matches, but he will be a very important person with whom our key leaders in the club can talk and listen to his experience.”
His task is therefore ready for him: he will advise the clubs and Leipzig hopes that Klopp will also boost recruitment – not only of players, but also of staff.
RB Leipzig chief Johann Plenge calls Klopp’s appointment ‘one of the best decisions we could make’
Plenge told Mail Sport he was ‘100 per cent convinced’ Klopp would help with recruitment and called his appointment ‘one of the best decisions we could have made as a group.’
‘[He can] improving the existing staff and players we have, but also attracting new ones,” Plenge revealed. ‘For example, if there is a vacancy for a new sporting director, then having him on board, someone who can attract the best people for this position, come to whatever club and work with them, that is something I think. “Every club, not just the Bundesliga, is jealous of it.”
Jealous is probably the right word, but furious might be more appropriate.
Despite all the controversy surrounding RB Leipzig, Klopp’s addition has drawn criticism from those who believe Die Roten Bullen are the most impure club in the country for their open flouting of the 50+1 rule.
The most vocal among the dissidents are the ultras at Klopp’s two former Bundesliga clubs: Mainz and Borussia Dortmund.
Mainz’s ultras unfurled a banner during a recent match, as did Dortmund’s fans. Former Dortmund player Kevin Grosskreutz said: ‘When I see him I will tell him I think it’s stupid that he did something like that.’
Klopp himself recently spoke about this in a response to Toni Kroos’ podcast, saying: ‘I didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes. I love all my former clubs, but I don’t know what I could have done so that everyone is happy… I didn’t see myself on the sidelines for a while. It was clear to me that I would do something, so then Red Bull came along.’
Someone who is familiar with the kind of reaction you get when you join this club is David Raum, the Leipzig full-back.
Plenge says Klopp will play more of an advisory role and not ‘stand on the pitch during matches’
Klopp’s appointment has been criticized in Germany, especially by fans of Mainz and Dortmund
“I’m not surprised,” Raum said when asked about the negative reception Klopp received. ‘It’s typical for Germany. I don’t know, in the Premier League… [backlash is] not that common there [they also have] major investors.
Raum added: “It is a big sign in Germany that a man like Jurgen Klopp is joining the Red Bull family. So maybe it’s also a sign for all the fans out there that they have to start accepting us, that they have to start accepting what we’ve achieved and what we want to do.”
What the team wants to do is win titles – and in Leipzig at least they seem to be closer to that goal than the other Red Bull clubs, having already won the DFB-Pokal twice in the last three seasons.
Leipzig are currently tied with Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga, but the New York Red Bulls remain one of the two original MLS teams to never win the MLS Cup and Red Bull Bragantino has not finished higher than sixth in the Serie A since the Austrian drinks giant took over.
Plenge told reporters: “It seems like a small difference, but actually it’s a big difference – whether you say you want to compete for titles or whether you actually want to win titles. I think Jurgen will go for the second one.’
He will have a lot of work to do in New York and Brazil. But in Leipzig he would find a team as committed to cultivating talent in Germany’s top flight as Klopp was in Dortmund.
Leipzig full-back David Raum hopes Klopp’s appointment will lead to German fans ‘accepting’ them
Leipzig is ready for trophies, having already won two German Cups (right) in 2022 and 2023
But titles will be harder to come by for the New York Red Bulls (L) and Red Bull Bragantino (R)
Think of the BVB teams and the names Klopp helped develop: Marco Reus, Robert Lewandowski, Mario Goetze, Ilkay Gundogan and Mats Hummels and many others.
Leipzig have already committed to building their own track record in player development, with the likes of Dani Olmo, Dominik Szoboszlai, Ibrahima Konate, Christopher Nkunku and Josko Gvardiol spending time at the Cottaweg academy.
Plenge said that these players have developed the club’s current image as a talent generator on their own, but I think Jurgen will be a very, very strong argument for joining our football project because of his track record, because of his name, what he is like as a person.’
It’s not clear whether Klopp will have any help in developing the so-called ‘Red Bull identity’ playing style that clubs like to teach their players, but if there was anyone who could help develop it, it would be a man with Klopp’s CV is.
Leipzig manager Marco Rose – who played alongside and under Klopp – spoke further at a press conference about what he is like as a person: ‘We had situations at Mainz where we felt helpless, but Kloppo made us feel like we wanted to play well again. away, the next day… We didn’t always agree, but I learned a lot from him.’
An outside view of the RB Leipzig training facility in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany
Leipzig manager Marco Rose praised Klopp and said he ‘learned a lot from him’ at Mainz
With Klopp’s role, Red Bull will hope that success follows in his wake
For a brand that wants to be associated with winning, they may have picked the perfect person to finally put them over the top.
All that remains are the results. Klopp may not be directly responsible for bringing it, but he will nevertheless serve as a magnet to attract those who can be successful to Leipzig, New York and Brazil.
It’s that pure magnetism alone that makes this recruitment so important for Red Bull. The hope is that it is only a matter of time before results follow and Klopp can add to his long list of football successes.