Jurgen Klopp to be confronted by former player who is furious with Liverpool icon

Jurgen Klopp will be confronted by Kevin Grosskreutz after the Borussia Dortmund icon was left furious with his former manager’s decision to join the Red Bull group. Klopp’s decision to accept an offer to become head of global soccer at Red Bull has gone down badly at Dortmund.

In a remarkable interview, Grosskreutz slammed the decision as ‘c***’ and said he wished it had been ‘fake news’. Klopp is often portrayed as an anti-establishment figure and the Liverpool icon has spoken frequently of having left-leaning politics.

And so his decision to join a global conglomerate has not gone down well. RB Leipzig, part of the Red Bull empire, are also fierce Bundesliga rivals with Dortmund.

“Somehow it still hasn’t really sunk in. I was hoping it was fake news. It was a shock, and sad too,” Grosskreutz told the Viertelstunde Fußball podcast.

“But as a fan, I don’t have to see him in front of the Sud anymore. When we meet, I’ll tell him personally that I think it’s crap that he does something like that.”

While working for Liverpool, Klopp revealed that it would be at least a year before he started work again, although he specifically said that would be as a coach. The 57-year-old will begin his new role on January 1.

Klopp will be responsible for the international network of all football clubs at Red Bull. Leipzig, Salzburg and New York Red Bulls are among the group’s clubs.

That is despite him criticising multi-club ownership in 2017, saying: “I’m a football romantic and I like tradition in football and all that stuff. In Germany, only two clubs sing ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ before the game – and that is Mainz and Dortmund.”

Red Bull’s ownership of the team is hugely controversial in Germany. The drinks giant bypassed the Bundesliga’s 50+1 ownership model when buying SSV Markranstadt in 2009. The 50+1 rule maintains that fans own more than 50 per cent of the club.

Dortmund fans have expressed their displeasure with their former boss, who coached them for seven years before departing in 2015. However, chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke told Sky Sports: “For me, it was no surprise because we had spoken about it personally. I wish Jurgen, as always, good luck in his new job.”

Klopp left Liverpool at the end of last season, admitting that he had grown tired in the job. His achievements during an eight-and-a-half-year stay at Anfield include winning the Champions League in 2019 and the Premier League in 2020.