Jurgen Klopp has conceded that the relentless fixture list was the reason he decided to quit his job at Liverpool and take up a role with Red Bull.
Klopp enjoyed a highly successful time at Anfield, winning the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup. But he made the shock announcement a year ago that he would be stepping down at the of the 2023/2024 season.
After leaving his job with the Reds, Klopp took a break from football, though did attend a series of games. Then in October, it was announced that he would be joining Red Bull as their Head of Global Soccer, having initially been approached before he signed his final deal at Anfield.
Klopp had insisted he wanted to take a ‘long break’ from the sport following his departure from Merseyside. But he has now admitted that the chance to focus on the ‘big picture’ was too good to turn down.
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“When you are in the job for 25 years, it’s super intense. The only thing is that I am a very curious person and I couldn’t feed that anymore,” he said at a press conference on Tuesday.
“It was just game after game after game after game. You keep a specific level and I wasn’t extremely happy with that to be honest. I always want to try to learn new stuff and I felt when I heard about the role that’s what I would do.
“I no longer have to improve the game in individual places, but I want to make football better all over the world. No longer prepare a new game every week, but work on the bigger picture.”
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Liverpool played 58 matches over the course of Klopp’s final season, reaching the quarter-finals of both the FA Cup and Europa League. He will now have responsibility for overseeing Red Bull’s stable of clubs.
The energy drinks firm have a controlling interest in Red Bull Salzburg, RB Leipzig and New York Red Bulls, as well as sponsoring Leeds United. Klopp will now have responsibility for overseeing the strategy at all of those clubs.
The German has been keen to stress that he is not looking to return to club management. And Red Bull’s CEO of Corporate Projects and New Investments is looking forward to seeing what Klopp can do in his new role.
“The idea had been around for a long time. I spoke to Jürgen and his agent and sensed a passion for what Red Bull does in sport and football,” Oliver Mintzlaff said.
“We spoke from time to time and I tried to explain our approach to him. I thought I had convinced him, but then he initially extended his contract with Liverpool. Now it has finally worked out.”
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