Talents roll off the belt like cans. In recent years, Red Bull Salzburg has grown into master trainers in Europe. Since January there is also a Belgian with Ignace Van der Brempt. For the Champions League match against Bayern Munich, he takes us into the talent factory.
Due to the low appeal of the group, it disappeared a bit between the folds: in mid-December, Red Bull Salzburg joined the last 16 of the Champions League for the first time.
More attention was paid to the first leg against Bayern Munich in the 1/8th finals. A competition in which the Austrian youngsters – on average barely 23 years old – conquered hearts.
The philosophy of the Red Bull teams is already known. Based on a blueprint of current United coach Ralf Rangnick, an attacking pressing machine was created in Salzburg.
Although of course it only works as well as the quality of the parts.
Scouting network
Just leave the great strength of RB Salzburg there.
Thanks to an excellent and global scouting network, the club manages – with the Red Bull money – to attract one talent after another to Austria, which has an impressive training center.
Each and every one of them are boys who underwent a thorough screening on football and human levels. And of which Salzburg is convinced that they can be sold for many times over in the long run.
The most famous examples in the club’s portfolio? Naby Keita and Dayot Upamecano discovered it in French low flyers. Both then went to sister club Leipzig, who eventually cashed 60 million (from Liverpool) and 42.5 million (from Bayern).
Patson Daka actually made it to Salzburg in Zambia and he now plays – after a transfer of 30 million – at Leicester. And then there’s Erling Haaland. Plucked from the Norwegian Molde for 8 million and has become a true phenomenon in Dortmund.
Erling Haaland in the shirt of the Red Bull club.
Future international stars are also walking around in present-day Salzburg. Gold nugget Karim Adeyemi has already hit 19 times this season. The rising star – already a German international – combines accuracy with speed and inimitable dribbling with his velvet left.
A handful of top talents that you will undoubtedly hear from: the American metronome Brenden Aaronson, super vacuum cleaner Mohamed Camara, rough diamond Junior Adamu and since this winter also… Ignace Van der Brempt.
Karim Adeyemi is Salzburg’s newest goldcrest.
Lefgozers
Van der Brempt fitted perfectly into the profile that the Red Bull club is looking for. It bought the young wing defender away from Club Brugge. The 19-year-old youth international had landed on the radar of Salzburg due to his matches in the Champions League.
“At Club it was difficult to perform better and more consistently than an experienced man like Clinton Mata,” says Van der Brempt, who was in the starting line-up for the first time last weekend.
“As a result, I didn’t really see a future in Bruges anymore. When Salzburg came, I didn’t hesitate. This is the perfect place to develop and get opportunities.”
We play with incredible guts – knowing we can hurt any team.
In his first weeks at the Austrian club, Van der Brempt immediately felt where the bar was. “It all goes a lot faster here than in Belgium,” said the defender. “Everything is 100 percent all the time. If you don’t pay attention for one moment, you lose the ball.”
Due to the worldwide research of Salzburg, Van der Brempt also ended up in a multicultural dressing room. If you take a look at the selection of Salzburg, there are no fewer than 17 different flags.
“It creates a great vibe”, the youth international testifies. “You know that you are together with the best talents from all over the world. And yet there is no laziness in the least: everyone does their duty without murmuring. The trainer (the barely 33-year-old Matthias Jaissle, ed.) also knows us better than anyone else. to excite.”
Ignace Van der Brempt at Red Bull Salzburg.
On the field, however, there is little of that youthfulness to be noticed. Salzburg thunders over the competition in its own competition like a steamroller. Tonight it looks Bayern in the eye with equal confidence.
“We always play here with guts, knowing that we can hurt any team. Really, we are not afraid of anyone here. Not even Bayern Munich in the Champions League.”
That promises…
