The Austrian group, which should participate in the takeover of the Parisian club today in Ligue 2, has established a network on several continents. Raising the question of the balance between performance and maintaining one’s own identity.
A good day for the sports branch of the Red Bull group on Wednesday October 9. In addition to his participation, revealed by the team, in the acquisition of Paris FC for 15% in the company of the Arnault family, the Austrian company announced the arrival from January 1, 2025 to the position of “director of football activities” of the former Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp, reportedly on a sabbatical after giving the Reds so much for nine seasons. He will supervise the network of clubs belonging to the brand, namely RB Leipzig, Red Bull Salzburg, New York Red Bulls (formerly Metrostars), RB Bragantino in Brazil and, therefore, Paris FC.
The popular, even libertarian, aura of Swabia will certainly suffer. By joining forces with Red Bull, Paris FC is entering a multi-ownership structure. Where the centuries-old identity of the clubs concerned is erased (if it ever existed, RB Leipzig having appeared out of nowhere in a few seasons) behind a globalized network allowing the circulation of players – and more generally skills, technical executives are also affected – from one club to another without really changing employer. And the cosmetic adjustments imposed by the European Football Union when two clubs belonging to the same owner compete in the same competition (this is supposedly prohibited) change nothing.
A form of modernity
The Austrian group’s strategy is based on two clear ideas. On the one hand, the Red Bull clubs operate at different levels, with RB Leipzig being the highest rung of the ladder so far. There is something of a continuing training, where distinct teams would support the career of the same player as he progresses, which raises the question of Paris FC’s place in the hierarchy. On the other hand, Red Bull is interested in young players with high potential, the objective being to create added value and achieve a financial shift when the element concerned leaves the group to sign for a big club. Thus, the Hungarian midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai (Liverpool), the defenders of the Blues Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich) and Ibrahima Konaté (Liverpool) or the Guinean midfielder Naby Keïta (Werder Bremen after five years spent in Liverpool) made the good fortune of Red Bull after coming out of one of the group’s “incubators”, Salzburg or Leipzig, or both.
Which has a direct consequence on the play of the group’s teams: young teams (one of the Leipzig coaches, Ralf Rangnick, had even theorized the ban on fielding a player over 26 years old) who play hard, run around a lot and use elements that we wouldn’t imagine would be bothered to come out of a washing machine to which they nevertheless owe their hatching. Today, both through the style of play and through a concept of timeshares that is spreading everywhere, Red Bull embodies a form of modernity. It remains to be seen whether Paris FC supporters will see the heads side (the performance) or the tails side (a sacrificed identity).
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