Former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp has signed a contract to become global head of soccer at Red Bull starting in January 2025, it was announced on Wednesday.
Klopp, 57, left the Merseyside club at the end of the 2023-24 season after nearly nine years, stating that he was “running out of energy.”
“After almost 25 years on the sideline, I could not be more excited to get involved in a project like this,” Klopp said in a news release. “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 from using the elite knowledge and experience that Red Bull possesses to learning from other sports and other industries.”
Red Bull own several football clubs around the world, most prominently with RB Leipzig in Germany‘s Bundesliga, RB Salzburg in the Austrian Bundesliga and New York Red Bulls in MLS.
Oliver Mintzlaff, Red Bull’s chief executive of corporate projects and investments, said it was the most important hire in the company’s foray into the sport.
“We are very proud of this outstanding and certainly the strongest signing in Red Bull’s soccer history,” he said. “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’s former assistant Pep Lijnders became head coach of Salzburg following the pair’s departure from Liverpool and is under increasing scrutiny in the Austrian city after his side were thrashed 5-0 by Sturm Graz last weekend, just days after a 4-0 reverse against Ligue 1‘s Brest.
Klopp joined Liverpool in October 2015 and led them back to the pinnacle of English and European football.
Under his stewardship, Liverpool won their first league title in 30 years in 2020, the Champions League title in 2019, the FA Cup in 2022 and the Carabao Cup in 2022.
He also led them to Champions League finals in 2018 and 2022 as well as the Europa League final in 2016. They won the UEFA Super Cup in 2019 and the FIFA Club World Cup title in 2019.
