Bundesliga
RB Leipzig is still looking for a sports director
RB Leipzig’s managing director Oliver Mintzlaff is looking for a sports director. photo
© Tom Weller/dpa
RB Leipzig CEO Oliver Mintzlaff sees the search for a new sports director, which has been going on for more than a year, closer to the goal.
RB Leipzig CEO Oliver Mintzlaff sees the search for a new sports director, which has been going on for more than a year, closer to the goal.
“Now we’re at least in a corridor where I have the feeling that we’re moving in the right direction. But we haven’t graduated yet,” said the 46-year-old in a panel discussion in the “Leipziger Volkszeitung”. Mintzlaff denied an agreement with the former Gladbach sports director Max Eberl, but no talks.
However, the managing director of the cup winner outlined a job profile that does not fit Eberl perfectly. They are looking for someone “who has a lot of experience, who is a strong face, who has a lot of internationality. When we have him, we will introduce him. It’s right that it all takes a lot longer than I imagined.”
Eberl needs the approval of Gladbach
Eberl, whose contract with Borussia Mönchengladbach, which runs until 2026, has only been suspended since his retirement at the end of January, has recently been increasingly brought into play as the successor to Markus Krösche, who resigned from Leipzig in April 2021. In Leipzig, Eberl can only sign with Gladbach’s consent, and a transfer fee is likely to be due. Gladbach had denied a request from Leipzig the day before.
One of the candidates who turned down the post at RB was apparently Thierry Henry. “I can say that Thierry Henry is someone who has a close relationship with Red Bull,” said Mintzlaff. “He’s leaning more toward coaching and I think he’ll continue to focus on that.” Henry had played in the New York branch of the Red Bull network from 2012 to 2015, Mintzlaff had looked after the former world star as an employee of a sporting goods manufacturer.