Jurgen Klopp explains decision to end sabbatical early | OneFootball

Jurgen Klopp has released a statement explaining his controversial decision to take up a new role as the Head of Global Soccer at Red Bull.

The German ended a trophy-laden nine-year stint with Premier League giants Liverpool at the start of summer, announcing that he intended to take a sabbatical after "running out of energy."

After just four months away from football however, Klopp was surprisingly announced as the new Head of Global Soccer for Red Bull, overseeing strategy across RB Leipzig, New York Red Bulls, Red Bull Bragantino, Red Bull Brasil and Red Bull Salzburg.

The news has, expectedly, not gone down particularly well, with Borussia Dortmund fans being notably upset by Klopp's decision to join the Red Bull organisation.

Speaking on Instagram, Klopp has explained his decision to take up the role.

"Some of you might have heard already, some of you haven't, from 1 January 2025 I will be head of Global Soccer of Red Bull," he said.

Klopp stepped down his job at Liverpool / Clive Brunskill/GettyImages

"Really looking forward to that. A few months ago I said I don't see myself on the sideline anymore and it is still the case. But I still love football and working and Red Bull gives me the perfect platform for that.

"I want to share my experience which I collected over the years and we all know there are more successful managers out there.

"In my career I fought for promotion, fought against relegation and fought for titles and trophies. Sometimes we failed and sometimes we succeeded and dealing with that is not easy.

"I want to learn again because when you're in the job and you have to play every three days, you barely have time for that. And now I have time and I have opportunity. And I want to see and figure out what is useful for football - developing football a little bit as well.

"Really looking forward to it but now I go back on holiday. See you in January."