The world of football is in a frenzy after Liverpool's huge victory last night (Sunday) over Manchester United, but Jurgen Klopp has other reasons to be happy, and they are not necessarily related to his team's performance on the pitch.
The current year started off on the right foot for the German coach: starting January 1, he serves as the ambassador of the Fischer brand, whose financial turnover reaches one billion euros per year.
Most likely you have never heard of it, but it is a real empire in the field of tools and construction that is sold in every home in Germany.
This is the sixth brand in the advertising portfolio of the Liverpool coach.
Before him, leading companies from other fields that wanted to associate their image with his landed in it, and in Klopp's bank account - the Sky television corporation, the footwear and clothing giant Adidas, the beer brand Erdinger, the financial services company DVAG and the car brand Opel.
According to estimates, even before the contract with Fischer, Klopp's annual income from advertising these brands reached 7.5 million euros - much more than most elite coaches earn from coaching their teams.
For comparison, Carlo Ancelotti's salary at Real amounts to 6 million euros, while Xavi and his coaching staff cost Barcelona only 1.9 million euros - less than what Beer Erdinger pays Klopp a year for the right to use him.
That's not all, because in addition to long-term contracts, the German coach does not want short-term collaborations.
Thus, during the last euro, the German advertised the Snickers snack and pocketed several hundred thousand euros.
In fact, the advertising offer that arrives at his door is so great that, on the advice of his advertising agent Mark Kosicki, he has to turn down most of the offers.
But why Klopp?
The story of his introduction to his agent somewhere in 2006, demonstrates well the same qualities of the German coach, which attract brands to him.
At the beginning of his career, Klopp coached Mainz, which was then playing in the second division in Germany.
The humble club got the kits from Italian Lotto, but it adored Nike - and wasn't going to hide it.
In a move that was nicknamed 'Israeli insolence', and did not exactly fit the German hierarchy rules, he sent a letter to Nike and asked for its sponsorship.
The letter reached Kosicki, who was working at the giant company at the time, and immediately fell in love with the directness of the unknown coach.
They closed on an exchange deal (Mainz received the uniforms from Nike, and in return Klopp undertook to wear their clothes for the matches), and when Kosicki set out on his own, they realized the huge advertising potential inherent in the coach.
Klopp.
His agent discovered the potential inherent in him, photo: AFP
Since then, Klopp has not stopped, in every way.
He managed to advertise banks and alcoholic beverages, watches and glasses, chocolate products, wallpaper glue and razors.
He has no problem switching brands, if it pays off.
Admiration for Nike, for example, retreated before Adidas' offer, and from 2020 he dresses for games in a strange Shatanz: wears Adidas sneakers, in accordance with his personal contract, and wears Nike tracksuits due to the team's sponsorship agreement.
Before Opel, he had no qualms about advertising other car brands (BMW, Mitsubishi, Seat), but it seems that the current partnership is likely to continue.
The reason, of course, is financial: Opel sales in Germany increased by 13% after Klopp became the brand ambassador, and public opinion polls revealed that every third customer chose Opel due to the fact that they recognized the car with the coach.
The CEO of Erdinger also confirms that Jurgen Klopp has a touch of magic. According to her, in the 18 months that have passed since the German coach began advertising the company's wheat beer in the UK, its sales have increased by 62%, and Erdinger has become the most recognized brand in this category. These numbers seem imaginary, but they work out, if you look at the appreciation that the general public has for him, as reflected in the polls.
In a survey conducted in his home country, 90% of respondents stated that they like Klopp.
The results of the survey conducted in Great Britain at the initiative of the Times newspaper, in which the participants were asked to rate the leadership of various figures, were even more amazing: the German coach was ranked lower than Winston Churchill, but surpassed Margaret Thatcher and Elizabeth II.
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