January 15 – Former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has hit back at critics of his new job as Red Bull’s head of global football.
Klopp left Liverpool after almost nine years at the helm last summer and officially started his new job with Red Bull on January 1. As part of his role, Klopp will oversee the multiple clubs owned by Red Bull, including RB Leipzig, Red Bull Salzburg and New York Red Bulls. They also own Brazilian club Red Bull Bragantino and have stakes in Leeds united and Paris FC.
Multi-club ownership is a source of major controversy within football and Klopp’s decision to join Red Bull resulted in plenty of criticism, most notably from his former clubs Mainz and Borussia Dortmund.
Dortmund fans accused him of being a ‘sell-out’, while Mainz fans unveiled banners during their Bundesliga clash with Leipzig in October that criticised the move. One read: “Have you forgotten everything we have made you become?,” while another questioned if Klopp was ‘crazy’.
But at his official unveiling in his new job, However, Klopp asked whether the fans of clubs owned by Red Bull “deserve good football”.
Klopp said: “I was at Leipzig Stadium for the first time this weekend and saw 47,000 people there, 5,000 were from Bremen, but 42,000 supporters for Leipzig.
“I sat there and asked myself and I know what everyone else is saying about it when they see me there, at my former clubs, and I think ‘do they not deserve good football?’. All the people in Leipzig, all the people in the region, all the people who want to see them win.
“I was around about 10 years not in Germany and they were not in the Bundesliga so I never had the games against them. And for me it’s completely natural, I know how the start was but I think they deserve it and I think it’s worth giving. And not only there, in Salzburg, the football fans in New York, in Japan, in Brazil. They deserve support and improvement and that’s why I want to do it.”
Opening up about the decision to leave Liverpool, he added: “It was just game after game after game after game. You keep a specific level and I wasn’t extremely happy with that to be honest. This it’s a different role. I’ve always said that I love what I do, but after a thousand matches and press conferences, I wanted a fresh start and a new opportunity. (But) I will not be a coach of a Red Bull team.”
“What I want to do is develop football – develop football for our clubs, for our players and for our talents, but for football itself as well. Somebody has to take care of that. So yes, helping football and in the same moment being successful with Red Bull in the long term is super appealing to me.”
His long connection with Liverpool saw Klopp asked about the future of Mohamed Salah, who is out of contract with the Premier League leaders at the end of the season and is the subject of intense speculation about a possible imminent move.
“I hope he stays,” said Klopp. “He is the biggest striker of modern times, a fantastic player and fantastic human being. An outstanding athlete in all departments, so I hope he stays at Liverpool.”
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1736957564labto1736957564ofdlr1736957564owedi1736957564sni@w1736957564ahsra1736957564w.wer1736957564dna1736957564