Jurgen Klopp Held Secret Talks With Red Bull During His Time At Liverpool
Jurgen Klopp paraded out of Liverpool last summer as an iconic manager for the club, cementing himself on the same pantheon as Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley.
Hence it might a surprise for people to hear that the German coach reportedly held a secret meeting with Red Bull, the owners of Leipzig and Salzburg, before announcing he would be leaving Anfield at tehe end of the season.
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Klopp did face some backlash in October from his former team Borussia Dortmund for joining forces with Bundesliga rivals Leipzig, as Red Bull’s global head of soccer, with the Yellow Wall not all too appreciative of the move.
The 57-year-old was first approached by Red Bull over two years ago, RB chief Oliver Mintzlaff told BILD. Klopp has not yet started his new role, as it starts January 1 next year.
'Over the last 20 years, I have experienced, helped shape and negotiated many negotiations in football. I have to say that when he got the yes, it was the easiest,' said Mintzlaff.
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'Not because we offered him an unbelievable financial package, on the contrary. We spoke about the financial side for 20 seconds because he said he was up for the task.'
'I hope he doesn't hear that now, because then he'll think that he and his advisor negotiated poorly,' he joked. 'But no, financially it took 20 seconds. When the yes was there, it was one of the easiest negotiations I've conducted in 20 years.'
'It took a long time. It was a very, very long process. The first idea was more than two years ago, when I first spoke to Jurgen about it. He said: "I think that's great, I think that's impressive." Not just what's happening in football, but also the sports Red Bull is involved in, how much is being done for young talent.
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'That always interested him and excited him. So we always kept in touch and I didn't let up... But at some point he told me that I was extending my stay in Liverpool and that was of course a disappointment for me because that little door was then closed.'
'When he announced his departure, we met at his place in Liverpool a few months later and I started again with my topic and told him a lot of things, where I think we could use him and that it would be an exciting task for him.
'And then he said: "All right, let's do it." I had to slap myself in the face. Then he agreed and I quickly drew up the contracts.'
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Klopp won the Premier League and Champions League during his time at Liverpool among six other trophies.
LFC Transfer Room Football Correspondent. Freelance journalist with experience covering Liverpool FC, having also written for leading music publications