Interview 

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Jürgen Klopp seemed relaxed, almost jovial, when he sat down to speak to a select group of media at the brand-new RB Leipzig headquarters ahead of the Bundesliga Topspiel against Bayern Munich (1-5). It has been a year since Klopp was appointed the Global Sports Director of Red Bull Soccer. In that capacity, the former Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool manager oversees the strategic direction of the football clubs RB Leipzig, Red Bull Bragantino, New York Red Bulls, and RB Omiya Ardija. Klopp is also involved with promoted Ligue 1 side Paris FC, where Red Bull is a minority partner. It is a significant portfolio for the 58-year-old Stuttgart native to keep an eye on.

At RB Leipzig, the club at the top of the pyramid, his impact has already been significant. “During the transfer window, we don’t talk every day but almost every second day,” RB Leipzig sporting director Marcel Schäfer said. Schäfer also pointed out that it certainly helps having Klopp join a video call whenever Leipzig want to convince a new player to join the club. “He captures people,” Schäfer said. Klopp was also involved in Leipzig’s coaching search that ended with the club signing Ole Werner. “You will not find three people who have a better expertise regarding coaching staff and squad planning,” Schäfer said.

It makes sense for Schäfer to have Klopp involved in the daily transfer business. Whether it was in the Bundesliga against Bayern Munich or in the Premier League against Man City, Klopp faced clubs with a significant financial advantage. According to the Transfermarkt database, Klopp ranks eighth in terms of transfer spending among all coaches since he joined Dortmund from Mainz in 2008. Klopp spent €1.13bn from 2008 until he left Liverpool in 2024 (see graphic below). In comparison, Pep Guardiola at Man City spent a total of €2.06bn on new players at the same time.

Klopp: Tried to be independent from “individual player quality”

“In specific parts of the game we were braver,” Klopp said when confronted with that statistic. “Don’t try to avoid defeat, try to win games. I always wanted to create a system that was a little less dependent on individual player quality. When I played in the 1990s, the team with the better players won, period. They all played one-on-one against one another. So, I organized my teams to play more independently, regardless of their overall quality. But to be honest, in Germany, nobody ever talked about the money; they all knew Bayern were the team outspending everyone. That only became a big topic in England. But we never thought that we didn’t win because we didn’t spend, and it always annoyed people when I gave that answer.”

Now at Red Bull, Klopp wants his teams to be independent from individual quality as well. “We had a meeting half a year ago in Munich where all the academy directors, sporting directors, scouts, and head scouts of the global Red Bull team were invited, and Klopp presented the playing style and playing philosophy,” RB Leipzig head of the academy David Wagner said. “In that meeting, he put everyone on the same page, which ensured that scouts knew which type of players we need for certain positions and that sporting directors know what formation we play in. He gave us two to three transfer windows to change the squad.” That formation is a move away from 4-2-2-2 to 4-3-3 with a classic no.9 flanked by two wingers. The best example is RB Leipzig, which signed a more classic center-forward in Rômulo, with the likes of Yan Diomande and Johan Bakayoko to flank him.

Although it isn’t always perfect, Leipzig are a good example of the new philosophy. Under head coach Ole Werner, who was handpicked by Klopp, the club plays a classic 4-3-3 formation with wide players and an aggressive counter-pressing style. That doesn’t mean clubs have to always play that system 100% of the time. “It depends on the circumstances,” Klopp said. Paris FC, for example, beat PSG 1-0 with a back five. “It wasn’t pretty, but the result is what matters,” Klopp said. “I didn’t expect us to have 80% possession, and it is completely fine to win against PSG the way we did, even if it wasn’t a commercial for football, that’s fine. I won’t call up [Stéphane Gilli] and tell him he must play 4-3-3. But the general development in the future must be to make yourself independent from the quality because we will never have the best quality over the next few years.”

Klopp: Bayern or Man City “always keep their best players”

That independence from overall quality has made Klopp a success in Mainz, Dortmund, and Liverpool. His clubs never had the best players, but his system allowed his teams to punch above their weight. Now he wants to incorporate that overall philosophy at Leipzig and the other Red Bull clubs as well. “I tell you what, when Leipzig win the Bundesliga, we will have to sell four or five of our best players,” Klopp said. “So, the next year you must find five players of a similar quality. That’s not the same at Bayern or Man City; they always keep their best players or buy even better players.” Klopp believes that Red Bull teams will have to find different means to compensate for the lack of resources. “We have to make sure that the scouting has to be exceptional and the organization on the pitch has a different stability and as close to the top potential as possible.”

How do you describe Klopp’s work at Red Bull? As mentioned, for the staff at Leipzig, Klopp is almost a coach for the coaching staff and the technical directors. “I don’t want to sound arrogant, but I do know how to coach a football team,” Klopp said when asked how he would define his role within the Red Bull group. “I am not a genius. I don’t know much about other things, but I’m okay with football. Red Bull gave me an opportunity in a role, which we can define together step-by-step.” The likes of Schäfer and Wagner are a bit more precise. In conversations with Transfermarkt throughout the weekend, they pointed out that they often rely on Klopp for advice.

Klopp believes that being an advisor best describes his position. “When I was a coach, I often wished there was someone I could have talked to,” Klopp said. “My idea was to be the guy I never had. I sat in my office very, very, very, very often, very alone.” You get the sense that Klopp doesn’t want that to happen to decision makers within the Red Bull football empire. For them, he wants to be an assistant, someone they can talk to and ask for advice. The role, of course, is a bit more complex. For example, RB Leipzig sporting director Schäfer mentioned that it is easier to recruit players when Klopp gets on the phone with them. But Klopp isn’t just there to recruit players; he exists within the Red Bull football universe to share his expertise in specific areas.

Klopp on Real Madrid interest: “It is all media”

With all that in mind, this is a very complex job. But does he ever feel like going back to coaching? “When we built our house, my wife wanted to leave space in the trophy room, and I told her not to worry because there won’t be any additional trophies,” Klopp said. “Of course, I wouldn’t rule out anything entirely, but I am 63, and I am very happy here in my role.” No interest in the Real Madrid job, then? “I don’t get up and excited if whatever Real Madrid is showing interest in me, they don’t really anyhow, it is all media. I’m consistent, and I don’t change my mind overnight. This position I am in right now is exciting without the anxiety.”

Was he surprised that Xabi Alonso was sacked by Real Madrid? “Yes, I was surprised, but also, I wasn’t surprised,” Klopp said. “It is Real Madrid; Jupp Heynckes was sacked there even though he won the Champions League. I don’t know what that says about Real Madrid.” In other words, the Real Madrid job isn’t exactly something that entices Klopp to come out of his coaching retirement. Would anything really? “Never say never, but as I said, I am very happy here,” Klopp says with one of his trademark smiles on his face.