Jurgen Klopp's first task confirmed as club chief 'not too sure' about controversial deal

Jurgen Klopp will be heading to Japan in January as he starts his new role with Red Bull.

Last month, the ex-Liverpool manager was announced as the new global head of soccer at Red Bull. The 57-year-old will officially start his role in January next year where he will oversee footballing developments across clubs like RB Leipzig, RB Salzburg and three other clubs in North and South America.

This move came with plenty of criticism from Borussia Dortmund fans, the German club Klopp managed for seven years before coming over to Merseyside. The rapid rise of Leipzig since Red Bull took over has been frowned upon by German football fans. In 2017, 28 Dortmund supporters were arrested for throwing objects at the Leipzig support.

READ MORE: Everton face anxious wait over unresolved PSR charge as points deduction fear persists

READ MORE: 'Put it that way' - Liverpool told they wouldn't be top of Premier League without one player

Now, the energy drink company has become the outright owners of the Japanese side Omiya Ardija. This season, they have been crowned champions of J-League 3, promoting them to J2 for next season. J2 is one below the top league in Japan, J-League. The club will change its name to RB Omiya Ordija and have a new badge.

One of Klopp's first tasks will be to fly over to Japan in January to visit Omiya. Ex-German international Mario Gomez, who is now Red Bull Soccer's technical directer, revealed the new emblem for the Japanese side earlier this month. Unsurprisingly, it was the same 'RB' design as all of their other teams.

Gomez has already said that they have no intention of "playing in the J2 for 10 years." Omiya haven't been in the top flight of Japanese football since 2017, but with the financial support of Red Bull, they will likely be there in no time.

Initially, the head of football operations at the club, Hiromi Hara, "wasn't too sure, to be honest." After seeing Red Bull's thorough analysis of the club, he leant in to it.

Although Klopp will be welcomed in Japan, there is likely to be some backlash from Omiya supporters. The changing of the badge with the iconic squirrel that originally featured on the crest has now been thrown away.

The only part of the badge that remained is the slight orange tinge surrounding the new logo. The experienced German manager understands footballing heritage so is sure to feel empathy with the fans.