Eleven months after telling Liverpool his energy for the touchline was gone, Jürgen Klopp walked into a job that did not require a touchline at all. The former Liverpool manager began work as Red Bull’s head of global soccer on 1 January 2025 — a strategic role the company says has nothing to do with running a club’s day-to-day business.
New role: Head of Global Soccer, Red Bull · Start date: 1 January 2025 · Previous role: Liverpool manager, 2015–2024 · Liverpool exit announced: 26 January 2024 · Role status: Active, per Red Bull’s official announcement.
Klopp at a glance
- Born 16 June 1967, Stuttgart, Germany. Wikipedia
- Former striker, later converted to defender at Mainz 05.
- No trophy spent on luck: two Bundesliga titles at Dortmund, Premier League and Champions League at Liverpool.
- Head of Global Soccer, starting . Red Bull announcement
- Red Bull described the position as strategic and said Klopp “will not get involved in the day-to-day operations of the clubs.”
- Focus: playing philosophy, coaching development and the network’s overall direction. Bundesliga.com
- Announced his Liverpool exit on . Liverpool FC
- Red Bull confirmed his start date before he reported for work.
- A ESPN report claimed he had been dismissed; neither Red Bull nor Klopp confirmed it. ESPN
- No official salary figure has been published.
- Net-worth estimates such as the often-cited “$70m” come from aggregate sites, not Klopp’s camp. Celebrity Net Worth
- Treat those numbers as estimates, not facts.
These are the core facts behind the headline:
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name | Jürgen Norbert Klopp |
| Born | 16 June 1967, Stuttgart, Germany |
| Height | 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) |
| Playing position | Striker, later defender |
| Managerial clubs | Mainz 05, Borussia Dortmund, Liverpool |
| Liverpool tenure | 2015–2024 |
| Red Bull role | Head of Global Soccer |
| Start date | |
| Role type | Strategic, not day-to-day club management |
| Status | Listed as active in Red Bull’s official communications |
Why did Klopp leave Liverpool?
On , Liverpool announced that Klopp would leave the club at the end of the season. Speaking to the club’s media, the manager said he had run out of energy for the job and had decided he could not keep going on the touchline full-time. “My batteries are empty,” he told reporters, per the BBC’s report on the announcement.
The decision was his own. He had told the club’s owners in November 2023, and the public announcement came after Liverpool’s busiest winter fixture run. Results at the time were good — Liverpool were top of the Premier League table when the news broke — which is why the announcement felt so sudden.
His Liverpool record is the reason the departure dominated football news for weeks. He won the Champions League in 2019 and finally ended the club’s thirty-year league title wait in 2019–20, one season after finishing second with 97 points. Statistics like those are why the search history after his announcement was full of one question: why would anyone leave that?
What does Klopp actually do at Red Bull?
Red Bull’s official announcement was clear that this was not a coaching role. The company described the German as being responsible for the “strategic development of the clubs, coaching staff and playing philosophy” across the network. It also explicitly said he “will not get involved in the day-to-day operations of the clubs” — language that Red Bull used in its own statement.
So what does that look like in practice? Based on the company’s description, Klopp works across the network: advising on playing style, helping develop coaches, and supporting the identity of clubs such as RB Leipzig and FC Red Bull Salzburg. He is not the clubs’ sporting director; he does not sign players or pick teams. The role behaves more like that of a senior football advisor with a wide remit.
Klopp himself made the distinction explicit when he was introduced. In comments reported by the Bundesliga’s English-language site, he said he had no plans to return to the touchline anytime soon and that the Red Bull role allowed him to stay close to the sport on different terms, as quoted by Bundesliga.com.
Why isn’t Klopp managing right now?
Klopp’s own framing has been consistent since January 2024: he did not walk away from Liverpool to retire. He walked away because he felt the job demanded more energy than he had left to give. “I am not bringing it anymore,” he said in that first announcement, as reported by the BBC.
For a manager used to controlling everything — training sessions, transfer plans, press conferences — the Red Bull role gives him that coaching influence without the weekly grind. By his own account, speaking in an interview with the Bundesliga, he has not ruled out managing again forever. He has ruled it out for the immediate future.
That matters because it helps explain the job he took. The “why is he putting himself with an energy drink company” argument misses the point: Red Bull offered him control, influence and a schedule built around reflection rather than deadlines. For a coach who wanted to step down from the treadmill but not to disappear, it is a better fit than most of his former colleagues assumed.
Is Klopp leaving Red Bull?
This is the question that exploded into the headlines in , when ESPN reported that Red Bull had dismissed Klopp from his role. The story, which cited unnamed sources with knowledge of the situation, did not include an on-the-record quote from Klopp or a statement from Red Bull.
As of the date of that report, Red Bull’s official communications did not mention any dismissal. The company’s only written position on his role remains the one it published when he joined: that he was starting a strategic position and would not be involved in day-to-day club affairs. That position is consistent with the “active” status described in the company’s earlier statements.
It is possible that the working relationship changed after the start date and that reporters were given accurate information. But on the evidence available to fans — a single outlet report, no club statement, no Klopp comment — the dismissal is not a confirmed fact. It is a claim attributed to unnamed sources and should be treated as such until Red Bull or Klopp responds on the record.
Where does Klopp rank among the greatest managers?
This is the question that keeps appearing in search results around his name, and it is easier to answer than most a manager’s reputation questions. Klopp is the only manager, other than Josep Guardiola, to win the Premier League with a team that was not Manchester City’s current financial superpower, and he did it with the third-highest points haul in Liverpool history. He twice won the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund, breaking Bayern Munich’s near-decade dominance of the title, and took the club to the 2013 Champions League final.
At Liverpool, he ended a thirty-year league title drought, won the Champions League in 2019 and reached three more European finals across his nine seasons. The argument about “best Liverpool manager ever” now sits between Klopp, Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley in every serious discussion, according to the honours and records listed on his Wikipedia profile.
How much does the Red Bull chapter change that? Not much. His reputation was built in the dugout at Anfield and the Westfalenstadion. A strategy role with an energy-drink company, no matter how it turns out, writes the last chapter differently than fans expected — but it does not rewrite the ones before it.
Timeline: the key dates
- — Liverpool announces Klopp will leave at the end of the season. (BBC)
- — Red Bull confirms Klopp starts his new role. (Red Bull)
- — ESPN reports, without naming sources on the record, that Red Bull has dismissed him. (ESPN)
What’s confirmed and what isn’t
Confirmed
- Klopp announced his leave from Liverpool on . (BBC Sport)
- His Red Bull role began on . (Red Bull statement)
- Red Bull said he would not be involved in the clubs’ day-to-day operations. (Red Bull)
Reported but unconfirmed
- That Red Bull dismissed Klopp in . (ESPN)
The implication: a report is not an official statement. No club or representative has confirmed the dismissal on the record.
Klopp and Red Bull in their own words
“I am really looking forward to it. When I heard the idea for the first time, I thought, ‘That’s a great idea.'”
— Jürgen Klopp, quoted by Red Bull in the announcement of his role. (Red Bull)
“He will not get involved in the day-to-day operations of the clubs.”
— Red Bull’s official announcement, describing the boundary of Klopp’s role. (Red Bull)
The bottom line
Klopp’s Red Bull role is a strategic consulting job with one of European football’s most controversial owners. On paper it gives him influence without the weekly grind; in practice it depends on the relationship with the company’s clubs and executives. The February 2026 dismissal report is the first sign that the relationship may have soured — but a single unnamed-source story is not the same as a fact.
redbull.com, bundesliga.com, redbull.com, cbssports.com, espn.com, espn.com
FAQ: what you asked
Is Klopp leaving Red Bull?
Not as far as the official record shows. An ESPN report in February 2026 claimed he had been dismissed, but Red Bull and Klopp have not confirmed it in a public statement. ESPN
What does Klopp do at Red Bull?
Red Bull says he is responsible for the “strategic development” of the clubs and coaches, and that he will not be involved in day-to-day operations. Red Bull
Why did Klopp leave Liverpool?
He said the decision was his, that he was running low on energy for the job, and that the club needed a manager at full strength. He announced this on . BBC Sport
Will Klopp ever manage again?
He has not ruled it out. In his first comments after taking the Red Bull role he said he had no plans to return to the touchline immediately, but he has frequently left the door open. Bundesliga.com interview
Is Klopp the greatest Liverpool manager ever?
Most discussions now put him in the group with Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley. He won the club’s only Premier League title and the Champions League, but whether he surpasses the founding fathers depends on how the honours are weighted. Wikipedia honours list
What is Klopp’s net worth?
No official figure exists. Aggregate sites estimate it at around $70 million, but Klopp’s camp has not confirmed any number. Celebrity Net Worth (estimate)
Where does Klopp live now?
He maintains a home in Liverpool and Berlin but is now mostly based in Fuschl am See, Austria, for the Red Bull role. The Athletic
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George Thompson is Senior Reporter at UrbanMixr.uk, covering breaking culture, lifestyle and general news stories across the UK.