Jurgen Klopp officially starts at Red Bull but AVOIDS one club

Tom Weber

Updated: 1 Jan 2025 15:53 GMT
4 min read

Jurgen Klopp officially started his new role at Red Bull on Wednesday, but there is one club in the network that he will avoid due to his Liverpool past, according to German media.

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The legendary former Reds boss has officially started working as Red Bull's Global Head of Soccer in a controversial career move that has seen him labelled as a traitor in his native Germany due to the drinks company's ownership of RB Leipzig.

In his new capacity, Klopp will not berate players and officials from the touchline but rather advise the many sides in Red Bull's multi-club network on all footballing matters.

His closest associate will be former Bundesliga cult hero Mario Gomez, who has been Red Bull Soccer International's technical director since January 2022 in a role that has helped him cultivate a sparkling reputation in the industry.

According to BILD, the first few weeks of Klopp's new engagement have already been carefully mapped out, with one particular omission.

Klopp to avoid Leeds

As Klopp himself has revealed, his initial tasks will primarily see him journey across the globe to get a clearer picture of the infrastructure at Red Bull's clubs.

Klopp will travel to Salzburg for a period of 'onboarding' in the coming days before moving on to Red Bull's German headquarters in Munich where he will link up with Gomez.

However, due to the nature of his role, Klopp will not have a permanent office in Bavaria. When he won't travel, he will work from his residences in Wiesbaden and Mallorca.

Klopp will be in Leipzig for RB's Bundesliga clash against Werder Bremen on January 12 and will hold a meeting with head coach (and his former player) Marco Rose, who has come under fire this season. Two days later, he will be officially presented at a press conference.

At the end of January, his world tour will begin in earnest. First, he is scheduled to fly out to Brazil to link up with RB Bragantino before jetting off to California to visit the New York Red Bulls' pre-season camp.

By mid-February, Klopp is expected to have arrived in Tokyo to get a picture of what's going on at recently promoted second-tier side Omiya Ardija. Finally, the 57-year-old will return to Europe to begin working with Red Bull's newest club, Paris FC.

The report claims that Klopp will avoid Leeds United due to his Liverpool past, having previously stated that he would never work with another English club.

However, his contact with the Championship side may have been minimal anyway as Leeds United bosses have always insisted that they would remain an independent club despite the sponsorship deal with Red Bull and the latter's acquisition of a minority stake.