All beginnings are difficult. When Dietrich Mateschitz’s Red Bull empire tackled the top football project in Salzburg in April 2005, red numbers were the norm, European Cup successes were manageable and some men on the ball and on the coaching bench were known beyond national borders, but had passed its zenith.
Sometimes you have to invest a lot, take risks and even fall flat on your face to reap the rewards later. Mateschitz had to wait 14 years to finally fulfill his dream of the Champions League. 2019/20 was the premiere, 2020/21 the second time, 2021/22 the third coup – garnished with the claim to remain a regular guest in the lucrative “premier class”.
The course for this has long been set. The Werk’l in the city of Mozart is running perfectly – starting with the excellent youth work (the U19s were twice in the final of the UEFA Youth League) to a brilliantly functioning scouting system to the introduction of talents to the professional department via the farm team engaged in the 2nd league .
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“You need patience”
At FC Liefering, Karim Adeyemi, for whom Borussia Dortmund will now spend up to 40 million euros, recommended himself for higher things.
“You’re on hold, but you know you’ll get a chance. You need patience – that’s one of my strengths,” said the 20-year-old striker, who moved to Salzburg in 2016 for 3.3 million from the Unterhaching U19s came.
The German international brought everything the “Red Bulls” were craving for: he is young, dynamic, highly talented and an investment in the future.
The “talent factory” has such a good reputation that youngsters, their parents and advisers prefer Salzburg to many a top international address. For now at least. Chelsea were at a disadvantage at Adeyemi, behind the very young Erling Haaland it felt like the “Who is who” of the scene collectively. Now the Norwegian arrives at Manchester City via Dortmund. Salzburg was not only a springboard for him.
Stephan Reiter, managing director of the Austrian double winner since February 2017, doesn’t like hearing the word “training association”. “We are an international club with very good opportunities,” says the 50-year-old, who plays the perfect one-two with sports director Christoph Freund – the 44-year-old succeeded future ÖFB team boss Ralf Rangnick in the summer of 2015.
Those interested stand in line
Business is thriving. The highest transfer fee that FC Salzburg has ever paid was 11.2 million euros for Swiss team striker Noah Okafor, who came from FC Basel in January 2020.
On the other hand, there have been 18 departures, each of which has brought in (significantly) more – across the board since August 2014. At that time, Sadio Mane moved to Southampton FC for 23 million. In 2008, Salzburg broke the one million mark for the first time in a player sale. That’s when Andreas Ivanschitz went to Panathinaikos Athens for 1.6 million.
The Red Bulls are currently moving in other dimensions. The Adeyemi deal could have just been the beginning of a hot transfer summer. Rasmus Kristensen is also very popular in Dortmund, Nicolas Seiwald in Leverkusen. Brenden Aaronson piques the interest of Leeds coach and fellow United States player Jesse Marsch. Luka Sucic – who grew up in an alcove and was hired by Union Edelweiss Linz at the age of 13 – is associated with Liverpool FC, Maximilian Wöber with Wolfsburg, Benjamin Sesko with FC Bayern and Dortmund. Sequel follows.
Source: Nachrichten
