“One of the biggest mistakes”

Red Bull boss Oliver Mintzlaff has described the decision to let Julian Nagelsmann join Bayern Munich as “one of the biggest mistakes and disappointments” of his career.

After two successful years as head coach of RB Leipzig, Julian Nagelsmann left the Red Bull Arena to take charge of FC Bayern Munich in the summer of 2021.

Although RB Leipzig received a reported fee of around €25 million to let Nagelsmann go, Oliver Mintzlaff still regrets the move.

The former RB Leipzig CEO and now CEO of Corporate Projects and New Investments at Red Bull spoke about the decision on Wednesday, describing it as “one of the biggest mistakes and disappointments” of his career.

“For me, Julian Nagelsmann was the best coach I have ever experienced. An outstanding coach,” Mintzlaff said at the SPOBIS conference in Hamburg on Wednesday.

“We had fantastic coaches like (Ralph) Hasenhüttl, (Ralf) Rangnick and Marco Rose, with whom we won titles and reached the Champions League,” Mintzlaff said, listing former and current RB Leipzig coaches.

“But Julian Nagelsmann was something special for me. We would have liked to continue working with Julian Nagelsmann,” Mintzlaff added.

Even the high transfer fee could not compensate for the loss.

“I knew it would be difficult for us,” he stressed.

Nagelsmann was eventually sacked by Bayern in March 2023. He took over as Germany coach in September that year.