Jürgen Klopp has already shaken hands with the DFB in New York. The contract, the vision, the project — all reportedly agreed. The only thing standing between him and the Germany job is a Tuesday meeting in which Red Bull CEO Oliver Mintzlaff decides whether to let him go.
Mintzlaff sits down with DFB president Bernd Neuendorf and league president Hans-Joachim Watzke to hash out what a Klopp release would actually look like. A transfer fee doesn't appear to be the sticking point. The talks are circling around what Red Bull gets in return — hosting international matches at Leipzig's Red Bull Arena is one idea on the table, alongside other forms of compensation. Creative accounting for a creative solution.
A hire that hasn't delivered
The awkward backdrop to all this is that Klopp's time at Red Bull has been, by most accounts, a disappointment. The Salzburger Nachrichten — published in the home city of Red Bull Salzburg — described his work there as "virtually a complete sporting failure." That's a damning line from your own backyard.
He joined as Head of Global Soccer on January 1, 2025, billed by Mintzlaff himself as "certainly the biggest signing in Red Bull's football history." Those decisive impulses and collective improvements Mintzlaff promised? They haven't shown up. RB Leipzig just fired a coach after what was actually a solid Bundesliga season, which tells you something about the mood inside the empire.
Red Bull are also watching Max Verstappen potentially walk in Formula One and are off the pace in the constructors' standings. Letting Klopp move on — especially if they can extract something useful from the DFB — probably looks less painful than holding him to a role that isn't working.
What this means for Germany's odds
If the deal gets done, Germany suddenly become a serious proposition heading into World Cup qualifying and beyond. Nagelsmann got them to a home Euros semi-final; Klopp would inherit momentum and a squad with genuine depth. The national team's odds of competing at the 2026 World Cup tighten considerably with his name in the dugout.
Mintzlaff is not a man who agonises. He pushed Christian Horner — a founding figure of Red Bull Racing — out the door when he decided it was necessary. Neuendorf and Watzke should come to the table expecting someone who knows exactly what he wants, and isn't going to pretend otherwise.
