Start on Wednesday
Klopp is starting at RB – and he is bringing an old friend with him
December 31, 2024 – 9:32 a.mReading time: 5 minutes
On the first day of the new year, Jürgen Klopp officially takes up his duties as Red Bull’s global head of football. He has been involved for a long time and the task is extremely demanding.
Whether it was skiing fun in Vorarlberg or the birthday party of a well-known beer brewer in Munich: Jürgen Klopp enjoyed the last days of his break. On Sunday evening he joked about “tin cans” at a sponsor’s party, and on Wednesday the 57-year-old officially starts his new job as global head of football at Red Bull. But what exactly is Klopp doing and won’t he soon be Leipzig coach anyway?
When it comes to Jürgen Klopp’s new job, Ralf Rangnick knows what he’s talking about. “I held the position for a year and a half. I know that it can be a very exciting, demanding and complex task, but it is also very time-consuming,” said the architect of RB football. At that time he accompanied the squad planning of the clubs in Brazil, New York and Leipzig.
But Klopp’s task becomes even more intense. He should take the stumbling success model to a new level and should become the mastermind behind the RB DNA as a kind of Rangnick 2.0. Klopp should implement his football philosophy into the RB cosmos. An old acquaintance is supposed to help him: his long-time advisor, Marc Kosicke. According to a report by “Sport Bild”, Kosicke will receive a consulting contract with Red Bull.
Marc Kosicke is a heavyweight in football and has often been in negotiations with Leipzig in the past. He advised, among others, Ralf Rangnick (now Austria national coach), Markus Krösche (now Frankfurt) and Max Eberl (now Bayern) when they were under contract with RB. Kosicke was also at the table when Julian Nagelsmann became the new RB coach.
The man-catcher Klopp can succeed in the demanding task at RB. According to his former companion Jörg Schmadtke, Klopp manages to create unique atmospheres: “He allows things to happen in everyday life without losing control and can convey his enthusiasm for football. When he comes into a room with five people in a mediocre mood and When you leave it again after ten minutes, people are in a better mood than before.”
Klopp’s signing was undoubtedly not just a footballing masterpiece. Red Bull sells around twelve billion cans a year and therefore always represents a way of life. Klopp fits in perfectly as an extremely popular figure. The marketing effect is still more of a bycatch of the deal.
Klopp likes to play with the impact of the Red Bull deal on his reputation. At Munich beer brewer Werner Brombach’s 85th birthday on Sunday evening, he first called the band “Blechblos’n” playing there “Tin Cans” and then said, according to “Bild”: “When I decided on Red Bull, people said, “I would have completely ruined my reputation. I’ll take a selfie with the former Prime Minister of Bavaria this evening, with the current and future Prime Minister, then my reputation outside of Bavaria will be in the trash.”
Klopp’s task list is long. The global network with clubs in Leipzig, Salzburg, Brazil, New York and Japan must be more closely and better interwoven, and talent within the clubs must be better promoted. No player from Brazil or New York has yet been able to establish themselves in Leipzig in the long term.
In the previously reliable talent factory in Salzburg, there is currently hardly a player in sight who is expected to make the jump to the top of the pyramid in Leipzig. Last summer, Salzburg earned around 35 million euros from sales – one of the lowest figures in the past ten years.