How Jurgen Klopp's secret meeting with billionaire helped Liverpool sign football gems

A secret meeting between and co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz reportedly sparked an unlikely love affair that helped land some of Europe's top talents.

Eyebrows were raised across the continent earlier this month when Klopp was .

The German had left Liverpool at the end of last season, citing fatigue as one of the main reasons.

But it was his link to former club Borussia Dortmund, where Klopp won two Bundesliga titles and earned a runners-up spot in the 2013 Champions League, that caused the most confusion.

RB Leipzig, the crown jewel in Red Bull's multi-club football model, are not well-liked in Germany because of their lax approach to the league's 50+1 ownership model.

But, the initial meeting between Klopp and Mateschitz, which according to took place in September 2022, laid the groundwork for the Normal One's future move to Red Bull.

Despite the cultural differences between the clubs (Mainz 05, Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool) Klopp had managed, the tactician had openly praised the 'Red Bull model', as it would come to be known.

Speaking ahead of a friendly between Liverpool and Red Bull Salzburg in 2022, he said: "They [Red Bull] 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."

The onus on buying young and cheap, developing players into world-class talents, before shifting on for hefty profits resonated with Klopp and, in his current role with Red Bull, is something he'll get to continue working on.

But it's also something he benefitted from during his time with Liverpool.

Less than 12 months on from his fabled meeting with the now-dead Mateschitz, Liverpool splashed a whopping £60million on the latest gem coming off the Red Bull production line, Dominik Szoboszlai.

The Hungarian followed the likes of Naby Keita, Takumi Minamino and Ibrahima Konate, who had all been signed from Red Bull's portfolio of clubs.

In truth, the signs that Klopp, a public defender of the Red Bull group, might one day spread his wings and join the Austrian organisation, were there all along - perhaps people just weren't looking hard enough.

It's something the Red Bull's chief motorsport advisor, Helmut Marko, has joked about, telling Munich-based outlet TZ: "It's unbelievable how such a mega-deal could remain secret for so long. That would never have been possible in Formula 1."

Liverpool will just be hoping they can hold their position and avoid being overtaken, with their old gaffer now behind the Red Bull wheel.