Red Bull Salzburg's Marco Rose is one of the hottest coaching properties in football right now. The German is being chased by various Bundesliga clubs and his former coach Jürgen Klopp says he "can do any job."
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His Red Bull Salzburg team are on course for another Austrian title having been showered with praise for their high intensity, attacking style of play. But Marco Rose already has one eye on a future elsewhere.
The 42-year-old has been heavily linked with a move to the Bundesliga in recent weeks, with vacancies at Schalke and Wolfsburg certain to open up come the end of the season.
"I think it's not so often in your career, that you have a lot of requests and then you have a lot of options," Rose told Sky Sport Austria this week. "I know what I owe the club, and yet at some point it's about my personal situation, about goals, about new challenges, and about making a decision."
At one point, it was expected Rose might follow the well-trodden path from Salzburg to RB Leipzig, with both clubs part of Red Bull's stable of clubs and Rose a native of the eastern German city.
Leaving the Red Bull family?
But Julian Nagelsmann's imminent arrival at Leipzig shuts that door for now, while the one that was ajar at Hoffenheim shut when they appointed Dutch boss Alfred Schreuder as Nagelsmann's replacement on Tuesday. Schalke's huge fanbase and potential may make them the most appealing option, assuming they stay in the top flight, but Rose's former teammate and coach at Mainz says the sky is the limit.
"I trust Marco in everything," said Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp in a video message to Rose on the Sky show. "Marco can have any job and could do any job too, he is really the most hyped (coach) of all at the moment, everyone is asking about you."
Klopp coached Rose for six years at Mainz, a spell which included the club's first promotion to the Bundesliga and first qualification for Europe. The mantras of gegenpressing, attacking and faith in youth seemed to have passed from master to apprentice.
Rose's Salzburg side have lost just once in the league this term and he enjoys a win rate a shade under 70 percent since taking charge in 2017 following a spell with the club's youth side. A Europa League group stage where they took maximum points from Celtic (another vacancy Rose has been linked with), Rosenborg and an RB Leipzig side higher up the Red Bull food chain further boosted his profile. Salzburg eventually bowed out to Napoli in the last 16.
Polishing young players for sale
The full-throttle style of play Rose favors seems far removed from the abilities of Schalke's playing squad, meaning yet another overhaul would be required. Wolfsburg, where the money has dried up since the Volkswagen emissions scandal, are outsiders to secure his services but do seem to be heading in the right direction. Despite some players that seem a good fit for Rose, they too would also require substantial personnel tweaks.
What several Bundesliga sides will be impressed by is Rose's skill in improving young players in order to sell them on, with player exports a significant revenue stream for each club. Duja Caleta-Car (€19 million to Marseille) and Amadou Haidara (€19 million to RB Leipzig) are recent examples of players under 21 that the Austrian club have cashed in on, with Hannes Wolf, 19, also set to move to Leipzig in July.
But the fact so many of Salzburg's players have connections to Red Bull's empire does offer a note of caution, with none of Rose's potential destinations having anything like the same scouting network and global connections, while the competetiveness of the German Bundesliga is a step up from that of its Austrian counterpart.
Nevertheless, interest in one of European coaching's fastest-rising stars is strong and endorsement from the best-regarded German coach of them all won't do his stock any harm at all. Now it seems to just be a matter of making that decision.
Bundesliga Matchday 26 roundup
Werder Bremen pulled within three points of a Europa League spot, Frankfurt within one of a Champions League spot. Wout Weghorst's hat-trick carried Wolfsburg to a big victory, and Marco Reus was the hero in Berlin.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Kusch
Bayern Munich 6-0 Mainz
James Rodriguez scored a stunning hat trick as Bayern Munich delivered their second straight 6-0 victory in the Bundesliga. The Colombian stole the show with a marvelous spread of goals, with the second the pick of the bunch. Also in the act were Robert Lewandowski, Leon Goretzka and Alphonso Davies - who scored his first ever for the club. The win puts Bayern seven goals ahead of Dortmund.
Image: Reuters/M. Dalder
Frankfurt 1-0 Nuremberg
For the first time this season, Frankfurt won a game by a single goal. Usually deadly in front of goal, the home side found themselves wanting. A superb pass from Luka Jovic and then a cross from Filip Kostic was turned home by Martin Hinteregger, but 18 attempts later and Frankfurt were still only one goal ahead. Hanno Behrens nearly stole a point late, but Kevin Trapp made a huge save.
Image: Imago/Nordphoto
Leverkusen 1-3 Bremen
Max Kruse scored two and assisted another in a match-winning performance for Werder Bremen. Maxi Eggestein set up Kruse beautifully for the opener, and then Kruse turned provider as Milot Rashica tucked away a second. Leverkusen improved in the second half, and Leon Bailey hit a wicked free kick to make for a frantic finale. Leverkusen couldn't convert though, and Kruse added a superb third.
Image: imago/DeFodi
Schalke 0-1 RB Leipzig
A change of coach offered Schalke no relief as they slipped to a sixth consecutive defeat that leaves them in real relegation danger. Timo Werner (right) did the damage in the first half, slamming home a loose ball in the 14th minute to register his first goal of 2019. The Royal Blues have now drawn a blank in 10 of their 26 Bundesliga games.
Image: Reuters/L. Kuegeler
Wolfsburg 5-2 Fortuna Düsseldorf
A hat-trick from Wout Weghorst (right) helped Wolfsburg bounce back strongly from their hammering by Bayern Munich last week. The Wolves fell behind early to Kaan Ayhan’s free kick before Admir Mehmedi lifted an equalizer over Michael Rensing. Weghorst's treble came in 34 second-half minutes while Robin Knoche also got on the scoresheet. Benito Raman's 65th minute stike was only a consolation.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/P. Steffen
Augsburg 3-1 Hannover
Substitute Sergio Cordova (pictured) sparked an Augsburg comeback that takes them another step closer to safety. Hendrik Weydandt headed struggling Hannover in to an early lead but Cordova's 65th minute strike leveled things up. Jonathan Schmid put the home side in the lead 14 minutes later before Andre Hahn wrapped it up late on. Hannover have won just once since mid November.
Image: imago/kolbert-press
Stuttgart 1-1 Hoffenheim
Andrej Kramaric's seventh goal in nine games wasn't enough for Hoffenheim to take all three points as on-loan Steven Zuber equalized against his parent club. Kramaric's strike did make him the joint-highest scorer in Hoffenheim's Bundesliga history (46 goals) but this was Hoffenheim's 11th draw of the season, a statistic that looks as if it may cost them a European place.
Image: Getty Images/Bongarts/A. Grimm
Hertha Berlin 2-3 Borussia Dortmund
It didn't start very well for BVB after trailing twice through a Salomon Kalou brace, but Lucien Favre's players have managed to scrape an important win. Marco Reus scored the winner three minutes into stoppage time, with Jadon Sancho providing two assists in the Berlin rain. The title race is still on.
Image: Getty Images/Bongarts/M. Rose
Borussia Mönchengladbach 1-1 Freiburg
Vincenzo Grifo (left) chose not to celebrate when he scored against his former team on Friday. The Freiburg winger had put the visitors in front by firing in a cross from Pascal Stenzel. Alassane Plea leveled the score shortly thereafter, tapping in a pass from Thorgan Hazard. Gladbach are now winless in their last four league games at home and are slowly losing their grip on their top-four spot.