“I had to slap myself”
Red Bull boss reveals details about deal with Jürgen Klopp
12/23/2024 – 8:36 a.mReading time: 2 minutes
From January, Jürgen Klopp will work as “Head of Global Soccer” for Red Bull. Now his new boss comments on the negotiations with the ex-BVB coach – and makes it clear that it wasn’t just about money.
The news caused a lot of uproar in mid-October: Jürgen Klopp, long-time coach of Mainz 05, Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool FC, is returning to top international football from January 2025 after a self-imposed break. This time the 57-year-old will not be on the sidelines at his new club. Klopp moved to a management position and became “Head of Global Soccer” at the Red Bull brewery company. His job: to manage the company’s international network of football clubs (including RB Leipzig and the New York Red Bulls) (you can read more about his new job here).
His new supervisor will be Oliver Mintzlaff. The 49-year-old now spoke to “Bild” about the negotiations with Klopp. Apparently these were not problematic. “In the last 20 years I have experienced, helped to shape and negotiated many negotiations in football. I have to say that when the yes vote was given, it was the easiest,” said Mintzlaff.
However, a large sum of money that Red Bull offered Klopp was not the reason for this. “On the contrary,” says Mintzlaff. “We talked about the financial aspect for 20 seconds because he said I was up for the job.” Then the Red Bull boss emphasized: “I hope he doesn’t hear that now, because then he’ll think that he and his advisor negotiated badly.” Mintzlaff called the exchange with Klopp the “easiest negotiations I have had in 20 years.”
According to Mintzlaff, he worked on it for a while to ensure that Klopp and Red Bull finally got together. It was “a very, very long process,” he explained. “The first idea was more than two years ago when I talked to Jürgen about it for the first time. He said: I think it’s great, I think it’s impressive. Not just what’s happening in football, but also in which sports Red Bull is committed to how much is being done for young talent.”
As a result, Mintzlaff and Klopp kept in touch. The interim extension of the 2019 Champions League winner in Liverpool “was of course a perceived disappointment for me because this little door was then closed,” admitted Mintzlaff. But then Klopp announced his early departure from the top English club in January 2024.
A few months later, the Red Bull boss and Klopp met in Liverpool and exchanged ideas, said Mintzlaff. “I started with my topic again and told him a lot of things. I think we could use him and that it would be an exciting task for him.” Klopp then said: “All right, let’s do it.” The quick confirmation surprised even Mintzlaff at this point. “I had to slap myself,” he said. He then quickly drew up the contracts.