Jurgen Klopp returns as global head of football at Red Bull

Former Liverpool manager to begin role overseeing energy drinks’ football network in January

Jürgen Klopp has agreed a return to football – as global head of soccer at the Red Bull empire.
Klopp, who announced he was leaving Liverpool earlier this year citing exhaustion, will assume his new role on January 1.
“After almost 25 years on the sideline, I could not be more excited to get involved in a project like this,” Klopp said. “The role may have changed but my passion for football and the people who make the game what it is has not.
“By joining Red Bull at a global level, I want to develop, improve and support the incredible football talent that we have at our disposal. There are many ways that we can do this front using the elite knowledge and experience that Red Bull possesses to learning from other sports and other industries.
“Together we can discover what is possible. I see my role primarily as a mentor for the coaches and management of the Red Bull clubs but ultimately, I am one part of an organisation that is unique, innovative and forward looking. As I said, this could not excite me more.”
According to BILD, Klopp’s contract contains an exit option allowing him to leave to become Germany manager in the future.
The 57-year-old will advise all Red Bull teams, which include RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga, as well as Salzburg in Austria and New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer.
Oliver Mintzlaff, the company’s chief executive of corporate projects and investments, said: “We are very proud of this outstanding and certainly the strongest signing in Red Bull’s soccer history.
“Jürgen Klopp is one of the greatest and most influential figures in world soccer, with extraordinary skills and charisma. In his role as head of Soccer, he will be a game changer for our involvement in international soccer and its continued development.
“We are hoping for valuable and decisive impulses in key areas to make the clubs even better, both collectively and individually.”
Klopp won the Champions League, ended Liverpool’s 30-year wait to be crowned champions of England, and lifted every other major trophy in the game during a glittering spell at Anfield lasting almost nine years.
After saying he had no more energy to carry on as manager last season, he also said he did not want to take a coaching role for the foreseeable future.
“I do know definitely I will never manage a different club in England than Liverpool. It is impossible,” Klopp said at the time of his Liverpool exit.
“I will find something else to do. But I will not manage a club or country for at least a year.”
It remains to be seen how fans in Germany will react to Klopp joining Red Bull, with RB Leipzig one of the most unpopular clubs in a country in which investment in teams by commercial entities runs counter to its football culture.
When Leipzig were promoted to the Bundesliga in 2016, supporters of Borussia Dortmund – where Klopp is idolised –  announced they would boycott attending their own team’s trip to the city in protest at their opponents’ ownership structure.
Julian Nagelsmann is the current Germany coach, with his contract expiring after the next World Cup.