​Oliver Mintzlaff, the 50-year-old CEO of Red Bull, likely does not regard the prospect of Jürgen Klopp becoming Germany’s national team coach as an unwelcome development at this moment. His responsibilities are already extensive, overseeing Red Bull’s sprawling sports empire headquartered in Fuschl am See, Austria. In Formula One, the worst-case scenario would be the potential departure of four-time world champion Max Verstappen, and Red Bull is far from wrapping up the title in the current season. In other sports where the company fields teams, the biggest successes have yet to materialize, suggesting that the empire is not performing at optimal levels. This is also true of football, even with Klopp’s acclaimed role as Head of Global Soccer since January 1, 2025. The news that RB Leipzig announced its parting with coach Ole Werner after what had been a convincing Bundesliga season adds to the imperfect public relations picture surrounding the corporation.
Now Mintzlaff is expected to allow Klopp, Red Bull’s public face, to move to the German Football Association (DFB). According to Austrian reports, a degree of disillusionment has already set in. Salzburger Nachrichten, based in the home city of Red Bull Salzburg, recently described Klopp’s work at Red Bull as “virtually a complete sporting failure.” Mintzlaff is scheduled to hold talks with DFB president Bernd Neuendorf and league president Hans-Joachim Watzke on Tuesday. The DFB duo had only recently concluded successful negotiations with Klopp during a brief trip to New York regarding taking over the national-team post after Julian Nagelsmann’s resignation.
If the three parties reach an agreement, the path would be clear for Klopp to join the DFB. Reports indicate that the focus will be on creative solutions rather than on a transfer fee, which does not appear to be the main hurdle. Klopp is also not expected to continue serving as a Red Bull brand ambassador, though other forms of compensation could be explored, such as arranging international matches at Leipzig’s Red Bull Arena. Roughly a year and a half ago, Mintzlaff described Klopp as “certainly the biggest signing in Red Bull’s football history. We expect valuable and decisive impulses in the key areas to make the clubs, collectively and individually, even better,” Mintzlaff stated at the time.
At Red Bull, Mintzlaff—who previously ran as a former middle-distance runner—oversees all of the company’s sporting ventures. The empire encompasses two Formula One teams, additional football clubs in the United States, Japan, and Brazil, two ice hockey clubs, as well as a cycling team currently targeting success at the Tour de France with German rider Florian Lipowitz and Belgium’s two-time Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel. The corporation also supports numerous elite athletes.