Jurgen Klopp is already looking to reunite with a key name from his Liverpool days after taking over as head of football operations for Red Bull.
Jurgen Klopp shocked many this week as he announced he was joining Red Bull as their new Head of Football operations. It’s a controversial move – for many, Red Bull stand for everything wrong with modern football, particularly in Germany.
Klopp, on the other hand, was supposed to stand for the opposite. He was beloved by the exact fans who hated Red Bull. Now he works for the enemy.
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And as he looks to help build their footballing empire, it appears the former Liverpool boss wants to reunite with a former Anfield colleague. Salzburger Nachrichten reports that signs Jorg Schmadtke will take over as sporting director at RB Salzburg are ‘intensifying’.
Schmadtke was Liverpool’s sporting director for a couple of recent transfer windows. He was a surprise appointment, if not for his own standing but because the job was available in the first place.
Julian Ward, Michael Edwards’ successor, shocked everyone when he stepped down in 2023. Schmadtke was brought in and with hindsight, did a tremendous job.
Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai all arrived under his eye. All look like fantastic successes.
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Schmadtke would take over from Bernhard Seonbuchner, who became sporting director at RB Salzburg in July 2023. His tenure has been a disaster, however, with Salzburg failing to win the Austrian Bundesliga last season after 10 straight years of winning it.
Massive change followed, with Pep Lijnders taking over as head coach this summer. Fellow Liverpool assistant Vitor Matos then followed him – as well as Stefan Bajcetic on loan and Bobby Clark on a permanent deal.
However, the Lijnders reign has been a complete disaster. They’re consistently getting battered, in fact, with the 5-0 defeat at Sturm Gratz last weekend just the latest embarrassment.
But Klopp will attempt to turn things around, it seems. First things first, Schmadtke.
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