Werner's Unexpected Leipzig Exit
Former Leipzig Coach Ole Werner Unhappy Over Surprise Dismissal, Excludes Klopp from Letter
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RB Leipzig fired head coach Ole Werner on Wednesday after just 351 days in charge — despite him leading the club to a 3rd-place Bundesliga finish and Champions League qualification Newsday. Werner, along with assistants Tom Cichon and Patrick Kohlmann, was dismissed following a season review led by supervisory board chairman Oliver Mintzlaff and Red Bull's new global head of soccer, Jürgen Klopp Winnipeg Free Press.
Werner publicly pushed back on Thursday, releasing an open letter that expressed frustration over not being allowed to say goodbye to staff in person. The letter, posted on LinkedIn, was widely noticed for one pointed detail: it never mentioned Klopp by name AP News.
Werner Fulfilled His Mandate, Then Got Fired Anyway
When Leipzig hired Werner from Werder Bremen in July 2025, paying a reported €2 million buyout, his job was clear: stabilize a club that had slumped to 7th place and get it back into the Champions League Bulinews. He did exactly that. His side went 20-5-9 across 34 Bundesliga matches, scoring 77 goals and earning 65 points — just two shy of the club's all-time record beIN SPORTS.
In his open letter, Werner made clear he felt he had delivered. "Together we succeeded in fulfilling this mandate," he wrote, according to Newsday. But Red Bull's leadership had already moved on. The decision was made during an intensive season review on the evening of June 16, with managing director Marcel Schäfer delivering the news to Werner the following morning KDH News.
Klopp Wanted a Different Style, Not Just Better Results
The real issue, according to multiple German outlets, was not the scoreboard but the style of play. Klopp, who took over as Red Bull's global head of soccer in January 2025, wants every club in the network to play high-pressing, dominant football. Leipzig's brand under Werner — which reportedly relied more on structure and
Klopp, speaking from Dallas where he was working as a World Cup pundit for Magenta TV, defended the call. "Ole did a fantastic job. We qualified for the Champions League," he said. "But we also have to look forward at the same time," he added, according to Get German Football News. Werner had reportedly experienced "radio silence" from the Red Bull global office as early as November 2025.
The Klopp Omission Sends a Clear, Silent Message
Werner's farewell letter thanked players, fans, and Marcel Schäfer by name. Klopp — the man who co-signed his dismissal — was not mentioned once Yahoo Sports. German media have widely read this as a deliberate "silent protest" against the Red Bull corporate structure that now sits above the club's traditional sporting leadership.
Werner is the third permanent head coach Leipzig has had in just 14 months, following Domenico Tedesco, Marco Rose, and a brief interim stint by Zsolt Loew SABC Sport. That churn is now drawing scrutiny. Critics argue the Red Bull model, with Klopp's global office dictating style across its clubs, could make it harder to attract top coaches in the future OneFootball.
Leipzig Set to Spend €2.5 Million on a Relegated Replacement
The club's likely next move adds a fresh layer of controversy. Leipzig is in "final negotiations" with Martin Demichelis, the former Bayern Munich defender who just got relegated with RCD Mallorca in Spain, according to Get German Football News. Hiring him would cost around €2.5 million to trigger his release clause — more than it cost to bring in Werner.
The optics are uncomfortable: Leipzig is paying more to replace a coach who finished 3rd than it paid to hire him in the first place. For fans already uneasy about constant managerial resets, the move signals that style fit — not results — is now the primary measure of success under the Klopp era at Red Bull Stardem.
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