Moyes: Red Bull’s ‘little brother’ now has wings
RED Bull Salzburg might be the “little brother” of world football’s energy drink empire, but they are starting to assert themselves in the big boys’ playground.
After years of seeing their best players cherrypicked by their German affiliate RB Leipzig – the RB actually stands for RasenBallsport Leipzig to get round the regulations – the Austrian side, Europa League semi-finalists themselves only last year, are starting to flex their muscles when it comes to resisting their big brother’s advances. That is the opinion of David Moyes, who visited Austria recently to get a first-hand view of this unique footballing franchise model.
Although Leipzig are only nine years old, having made their way swiftly from the German fifth division, under the reign of Ralf Rangnick, who served as sporting director for both clubs between 2012 and 2015, the best part of 20 players were recruited for Salzburg and subsequently “promoted” across the border to their German counterparts.
These included current Liverpool star Naby Keita (who was on the bench for Salzburg’s last meeting with Celtic, which ended in a 2-2 draw) and almost another one in Sadio Mane, who had been earmarked to make the same journey until Southampton swooped to take him to St Mary’s.
But it isn’t the governance changes insisted upon by UEFA in order for the two clubs to share Europa League Group B which has ushered in a new phase in the interrelationship between these two sides.
Salzburg’s Mali international Amadou Haidara was earmarked this summer as a replacement for Keita in the Leipzig midfield, but instead he signed a new contract at Salzburg and scored one of the goals as the little brother shocked big brother in the first ever competitive match-up in this complicated global sporting family. No wonder Moyes feels Celtic will have their work cut out in Austria on Thursday night.
“I think Celtic will have their hands full, whether it’s Salzburg or Leipzig,” said Moyes, speaking courtesy of William Hill. “They won’t be easy games but let me tell you none of them will enjoy coming to Celtic Park either.
“You might think about Red Bull Salzburg and say they’re Austrian League, who’s in that league? You might be able to name two or three at most – yet they actually got to the semi-final of the Europa League last year.
“That’s where you’d be hoping Celtic might get to this season, a bit like Rangers’ run in 2008,” he added.
“These Red Bull matches will be tough games for Celtic – you just need to look at the players who’ve come out of Red Bull and into all the big clubs, like Keita, Mane.
“Will it be awkward having both in the group?” asked Moyes. “From what I saw it won’t be because they’re both completely separated but it’s a bit like Red Bull Leipzig are the big brother, and they take what they want. But if you look at Salzburg, to get to the semi-final, they don’t need any support from big brother, they can do it on their own.
“I was amazed by their facilities. The weekend we were there it was an Under-16 tournament. They had Red Bull Leipzig U16s, Red Bull Salzburg U16s, Red Bull New York U16s and Red Bull Brazil U16s. Then there was Chelsea, Southampton, Flamengo and a team from Africa.
“I thought, this is a great idea, they’ve got a chance to see all Red Bull’s players and they can move them wherever they like really. There’s a few clubs thinking the way forward is to have a franchise.”