Jurgen Klopp praises ‘really interesting’ Red Bull project

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has admitted that Red Bull’s footballing project with clubs like Salzburg and RB Leipzig is ‘really interesting’.

The Reds were defeated 1-0 by Salzburg on Wednesday evening, while they beat Leipzig 5-0 in Germany last week.

Current Liverpool stars Naby Keita and Ibrahima Konate were bought directly from Leipzig in recent years, while departed Reds legend Sadio Mane spent time with Salzburg before moving to the Premier League with Southampton.

The Red Bull clubs’ focus on developing young talent and selling them for profit while remaining competitive was praised by Klopp prior to Wednesday’s loss to Salzburg.

“What Red Bull is doing is a really interesting project, I have to say,” Klopp said to LFCTV.

“The team is incredibly young but incredibly skilled. Again, they kind of change every year, they sell players but still a good team.

“It’s really interesting what they are doing. The football philosophy is not too far away from ours as well.

“So it will be intense, it will be high press everywhere, it will be counter-press, we have to find solutions and that’s why we are here.”

Indeed Liverpool were in for a tough match and lost out to a goal from star striker Benjamin Sesko, who 90min understands is wanted by several Premier League clubs.

Klopp revealed post-game that the match did not have a ‘friendly’ feel to it and he was annoyed to have lost in Austria.

Crucially, Salzburg still have no plans to sell the youngster at this stage.