Jurgen Klopp will return to football in the new year as he takes on the role of Red Bull’s head of global football. The German has been out of work since leaving Liverpool in May but will take up a strategic role within the energy drinks conglomerate’s club from January.
“After almost 25 years on the sidelines, I couldn’t be more excited to get involved in a project like this,” said Klopp. “The role may have changed, but my passion for football and the people who make the game what it is has not.”
Klopp will not have a day-to-day role within the group, which also includes Bundesliga side RB Leipzig and perennial Austrian title contenders Salzburg, but will “provide a strategic vision and support individual sporting directors in advancing the Red Bull philosophy”, a spokesperson said. announcement from Red Bull. The 57-year-old will be formally unveiled at a press conference in January.
Reports in his homeland suggest that Klopp’s new role will include an exit clause that would allow him to take the Germany job, currently occupied by Julian Nagelsmann, under contract until the end of the 2026 World Cup. The revelation This new role will also come as a disappointment to those who were hoping the former Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund boss would be persuaded to take up the vacancy with the England national team.
“By joining Red Bull at a global level,” said Klopp, “I want to develop, enhance and support the incredible football talent we have at our disposal. There are many ways we can do this by taking advantage of the knowledge and experience of the elite.” that Red Bull possesses to learn from other sports and other industries.
“Together we can discover what is possible. I see my role mainly as a mentor for the coaches and management of the Red Bull clubs, but ultimately I am part of an organization that is unique, innovative and future-oriented. Like I said, this couldn’t excite me anymore.”
Klopp is reunited with Pepijn Ljinders, his assistant at Liverpool between 2018 and 2024 and now responsible for Salzburg. The head coaches of RB Leipzig and New York Red Bulls – Marco Rose and Sandro Schwarz – will both be known to their new boss. Schwarz and Klopp played together at Mainz, Rose was one of Klopp’s mainstays as he took the club to the Bundesliga.
“We are very proud of this excellent and certainly the strongest signing in Red Bull’s football history,” said Oliver Mintzlaff, CEO of corporate projects and investments at Red Bull. “Jurgen Klopp is one of the greatest and most influential figures in world football, with extraordinary skills and charisma. In his role as Head of Football, he will be a game changer for our involvement in international football and its continued development. We hope that for valuable and decisive impulses in key areas to make the clubs even better, both collectively and individually.”