Jurgen Klopp’s new job could get even bigger as Red Bull announced as new shareholders of French club

It appears Jurgen Klopp might be about to get busier in his new job, with Red Bull adding Paris’ second team to their growing football portfolio.

The former Liverpool manager was announced as the Global Head of Soccer at the Austrian energy drink and sports ownership powerhouse earlier in 2024.

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The move came just months after ending his nine-year spell in charge at Anfield – where he guided the Reds to Premier League and Champions League glory – but it landed the German boss in plenty of hot water.

Previously seen as a football romanticist and man of the people, Klopp damaged his reputation with a whole generation of fans in his homeland by taking the job with a corporate entity considered by many to be the antithesis of the German football dream of fan-owned clubs.

His role sees him oversee the Red Bull’s network of teams, their vision and football strategy and aiding the clubs’ individual sporting directors to ‘advance the Red Bull philosophy’.

He won’t be involved in the day-to-day operations of any of the teams under the Red Bull banner – which is a good thing, because there are a lot of them. He left Liverpool to take a break, after all.

While Red Bull Salzburg represents the brand in its homeland, the real jewel in their crown and highest-ranked team under their control is Bundesliga outfit RB Leipzig.

And no, RB does not stand for Red Bull. Well, of course it does, but in order to avoid German Football Association rules, the company invented the word ‘Rasenballsport’ – literally translated to ‘lawn ball sports’ – in order to have their initials on the club’s badge and shirts.

But there’s more, with New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer, Red Bull Bragantino in Brazil and Red Bull Ghana in, err, Ghana.

The Austrian conglomerate have also struck a deal to take control of their first team in Asia, Japanese club Omiya Ardija from 2025, while they have also become a minor shareholder in historic English club Leeds United, whose famous white shirts are now emblazoned with the Red Bull logo.

And now it has been announced Paris FC are the latest team to join the Red Bull roster.

Red Bull are now minority shareholders [10.6%], with Agache Sports – operated by the Arnault family, who own luxury brands Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton and Moet, among others – now majority shareholders [52.4%] in the club.

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It doesn’t appear Paris FC will be getting the full Red Bull rebrand treatment, from blue and black to white and red kits – at least according to a statement from the club’s new president. 

Instead, it’s likely Red Bull will sponsor the club and have an input of the operations – similar to how it works at Leeds.

Pierre Ferracci said in a statement: “This step that we have just taken is an important moment in the life and history of the Club. With the arrival of Agache Sports and Red Bull, Paris FC is giving itself the means to display ambitious objectives.

“Without rushing things, by respecting its identity and values ​​and by relying on a Paris region whose potential we know, Paris FC will continue its progression, which will benefit its training centers and its first teams, both women’s and men’s.

“The adventure continues. It will be beautiful.”

While Red Bull don’t seem to be completing a full takeover of Paris’ football operations, it seems likely Klopp will at least be involved in some capacity, with his new role set to see him jet setting around the world to help develop these young clubs and build them for the future.

Paris FC is only 55 years old. Currently playing in Ligue 2, the club are gunning for promotion to Ligue 1 for the first time since 1979 and, at the time of writing, are top of the table.

They are the second-ranked football club in Paris to PSG – and there’s history between the two sides. A lot of history.

In the late 1960s, Paris Football Club merged with Stade Saint-Germain to form the newly founded Paris Saint-Germain, only for Paris FC to back out of the merger after two years to assume their previous identity.

Paris FC were allowed to maintain their status in the top flight, kept all their first-team players and Parc Des Princes as their home ground. PSG, meanwhile, were demoted to the third tier, remained in the Parisian suburbs and were given the club’s amateur players.

However, what happened next was a complete switcheroo of fortunes – Paris FC stayed in the first league for just three seasons before being relegated, with PSG enjoying back-to-back promotions to immediately return to Ligue 1.

Parc Des Princes was then given to PSG again – it’s now become the club’s stable home – and Paris FC plummeted. They did return to play top-flight football in the 1978–79 season, but they didn’t last long, being instantly relegated back down after just one year. They haven’t played in Ligue 1 since.

In the 1980s there was another merger as Paris FC was bought by the owner of fellow Parisian side Racing Club de France. The newly bolstered Racing Club stayed put in their league, but what was left of Paris FC was relegated to the fourth tier.

Since then they’ve been up and down the French football pyramid – ironically they’re now in the second tier and Racing club have been relegated to the fifth.

But they have never made it back to the big time – something Klopp and Red Bull will look to change.

That’s exactly what the Austrian firm did with Leipzig. The club was only founded in 2009, and yet in 15 years they have climbed from the fifth tier of the German game to become a Bundesliga staple.

They even qualified for Champions League football after their very first season of top flight football, and now regularly compete at Europe’s top table.

They may be hated by the wider German football fanbase, but it’s a model that has proven to work, and it’s one the chiefs at Paris FC will want to harness for themselves.

Time to polish up on your French, Jurgen. Bonne chance!