Jurgen Klopp has responded to raging Mainz and Borussia Dortmund fans who have taken exception to their former manager taking up a new role with energy drink giants Red Bull.
After ending his eight and a half year stay with Liverpool at the end of last season, the Premier League and Champions League winner recently confirmed he will be become the Red Bull franchise’s Head of Global Football from next January. And that announcement has prompted a negative reaction from his two former clubs in Germany, with both Mainz and Dortmund supporters making their feelings on Klopp‘s next move very clear.
During their recent Bundesliga clash with RB Leipzig, Mainz fans held up a banner which translates in English to “Have you forgotten everything we gave you?” Red Bull’s relationship with the rest of German football is strained and stemmed from the firm working around the league’s 50+1 ownership rule when they formed Champions League club Leipzig in 2009.
But in a staunch defence of his position, Klopp has opened up on his decision to join the Franchise. Speaking on the Einfach mal Luppen podcast alongside recently retired Germany and Real Madrid star Toni Kroos and his younger brother Felix, he said: “I didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes, absolutely not. And I love all of my former clubs. But I don’t really know what I could have done to make everyone happy.
“It was always clear, well, clear to me, that I wouldn’t do nothing. And then the Red Bull story came up. And it was an outstanding (option), and I have to be honest about that.
“Basically, I’m an advisor. Hopefully I can bring calm in different ways and, in other situations, assess things correctly and help the coaches. But I just want to support, not interfere, because I know how disruptive that is. Instead, I want to pass on my experience and work in the world that I know best.”
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