Red Bull boss Oliver Mintzlaff admitted that he first spoke to Jurgen Klopp about working together more than two years ago.
After resigning as Liverpool manager in the summer, Klopp has been unveiled as Red Bull’s new global head of football – a position he will take up on January 1. The timing of the appointment, coupled with Red Bull’s unpopularity in German football, saw Klopp attract huge criticism for taking the job.
According to Mintzlaff, talks with Klopp went on for more than two years and things progressed quickly this summer when the former Liverpool and the Borussia Dortmund boss has finally given his full approval.
“Over the last 20 years I’ve experienced, helped shape and negotiated many negotiations in football. I have to say it was the easiest when he got the yes,” Mintzlaff said. BUILD. “Not because we offered him an amazing financial package, on the contrary. We talked about the financial side for 20 seconds because he said he was up to the task. I hope he doesn’t hear that now because then he will think that he and his adviser negotiated badly!
“But no, financially it took 20 seconds. When it was yes, it was one of the easiest negotiations I’ve had 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 it’s great, I think it’s impressive, not only what happens in football, but also in sports Red Bull deals with, how much is done for young talents…’ This always interested and excited him.
“But at one point he told me he was extending his stay at Liverpool and that was of course a disappointment for me because that little door was closed then.
“When he announced his departure, we met at his place in Liverpool a few months later and I resumed my subject and told him a lot of things, where I think he could benefit us and that it would be an exciting task for him.. And then said: ‘Okay, let’s go’, I had to slap myself in the face and I quickly drew up the contracts.
READ THE LATEST LIVERPOOL NEWS, TRANSFER RUMORS AND GOSSIP
