'It has changed a lot' - RB Leipzig used to be the best dealmakers in Europe, but now they have to change their approach

RB Leipzig’s training facility is immaculate. Located no more than a 15-minute drive from the city center, the complex looks and feels as high-tech as it did when doors opened in 2015. Ralf Rangnick, best known to English-speaking audiences as the man who declared Manchester United needed ‘open heart surgery’, shaped Leipzig’s academy to be the best in class.

If a high-tech, new idea in football wasn't started here, then Leipzig certainly spent money perfecting it. The academy has nine pitches, including a stadium that seats just under 2,000 for the women’s team (and yes, you can buy Red Bull there). It’s the fine margins that count here. Every detail was carefully thought out - from the live video analysis screens in the training pitches to the optical illusions on the wallpaper that depict bulls running either “with” or “against” you, depending on whether you’re walking to the home or away locker room.

The dressing rooms get steadily bigger by age group. A sauna is located between the Under-17 and Under-19 facilities, with players having to prove they are “mature” enough to look after their bodies by using it.

An American Ninja Warrior-esque obstacle course is used to test youngsters’ agility (the first team is prevented from trying their skills - the injury risk is too significant). An indoor track, made from the same hybrid turf that players train on, is used to test speed, with sensors lined up every five meters to track data. Youth players U-16 and up get their own dorms. Those younger either live with host families in the city or commute daily. There is an onsite tutor to keep track of the footballers’ schoolwork. If you don’t perform in class, you don’t play.

Every single squad member, from youth to first team, has access to an app that tracks their training and nutrition, and offers personalized video for film study, all around the clock. A TV in the lobby of the facility plays clips from every other Red Bull club on a constant loop, juming from country to country, age group to age group.

It’s state-of-the-art and only improving. So why is it, then, that just three RB Leipzig academy graduates have made more than 100 Bundesliga appearances?

“It’s not a case of facilities,” Wagner said.

Wagner was brought in last year to find some solutions. He was among the hallmark appointments overseen by former Global Head of Sport Jurgen Klopp. Wagner and Klopp have a lifelong friendship. Wagner was Klopp’s best man at his wedding. The familiarity helped, Wagner admitted. But so did Wagner’s experience as a manager in the Premier League, where he saw how often clubs churn out top talent.

He believes it’s where Germany, and Leipzig, really need to catch up.

“England is so much better than we are [at youth development]. Obviously, I'm quite familiar with England because I worked a lot of years [there]. They are totally focused on individual development programs in team training. They do not have a table till they're under 16. They meet at the weekend. They play games. They like to win the games, but nobody cares.” Wagner explained.

And that latter bit, playing games, is Wagner’s chief focus. Last year, RB Leipzig’s youth teams played 30-40 games at every level. This year, thanks to the UEFA Youth League and a competition that the club created themselves, that number will shoot north of 50. There is no way to project performance quite like a 90-minute match. Leipzig have made sure they play more of them.

For a generation that the club believes could do with toughening up a bit, it just makes sense.

“My son was playing, and they were up like 6, 7-0. The best players have to come out because it's not respectful to the opponent, and I think, ‘what the f*ck’, you know, score too many goals?” Schafer said.

He wants the kids who are willing to turn 7-0 into 20-0. Historically, though, his club have struggled to work them into the first team. It might be an East German problem more broadly. An area with a population of 10 million, excluding Berlin, produced one member of the 2026 World Cup squad. Yet the talent is certainly there. Leipzig has a football culture, and it is not all that far removed from hotbeds such as Berlin and Frankfurt - which have churned out players for decades. Convincing youngsters to play for Leipzig, though, is tricky - not least because of the lack of a clear and obvious talent pipeline.

“Most of the players or parents or agents, if they have to make a decision, they look at how many players they brought into the first team, and obviously this is not a card which we can play because we haven't done this in the past. This obviously then means we do not have the best reputation in Germany,” Wagner said.

So what's the solution. Wagner admitted that he doesn't really have one. There is no single silver bullet.

"We have to make a shift. Let's take our hardware, which is good, but make sure we change the software," Wagner said.

It just takes a few, then. Whether it be a local kid starring for the first team or a generation of academy products all making their mark, the club believes that homegrown success is imminent.

“That’s definitely our goal. But sometimes it's even a timing question. Who is in your first team in the same position? Who gives you confidence? Sometimes it's a match; sometimes it isn't a match. But I never had a coach block a player who is better than everyone else,” Schafer said.

Of course, there’s something of a contradiction to contend with. RB Leipzig are trying to usher in a wave of new talent. They are also trying to compete. Striking the balance there is tough. Their activity this offseason suggests that they are trying to do both - but getting Bundesliga-ready talent is hard to come by. After flipping Diomande for a club record fee, they reinvested relatively little. Maxime Esteve arrived from Burnley. Rocco Reitz and Marc Guiu were also bought.

The marquee arrival was club legend Christopher Nkunku, brought in on loan after unsuccessful stints at Chelsea and Milan. Nkunku explained returning to the place where he won Bundesliga Player of the Season in 2022 will help him rediscover his best.

“I think at the moment I need to enjoy football again. To just think about football and playing games and also take pleasure on the pitch, do what I want to do, and it was the best option for me at this moment,” Nkunku said.

That means something of a change of approach for the famously quiet forward - who is now expected to be the outspoken, vocal face of the club.

“It's difficult for me because I'm a reserved guy, so I'm always focused on my own things. Now I feel this is the moment for me to share, because the young generation needs to understand what a high level is and the need for help… when I was young also, a lot of old players taught me and gave me some advice…this is my role now,” he said.

Nkunku would seem to be a tidy piece of business. He scored his first goal after returning to the club in a 5-0 battering of Hamburg on Sunday afternoon.

There is other talent here, too. Antonio Nusa, signed from Club Brugge in August 2024, has started to show his world-class potential with a tidy return of goals and assists this season. However, he, too, will almost certainly be shuffled on this summer - at least based on Leipzig’s history. There is a premium for wingers. Leipzig will be forced to cash in to the highest bidder.

And so they will likely look elsewhere again. The talent will be harder to come by, to be sure. Whichever youngster pops up in Germany, Austria, France or anywhere else in Europe will be sought out by richer, more free-spending Premier League clubs.

If there is another Yan Diomande, the harsh reality is he will sign for Brentford before Leipzig.

“You need to consider that so many players are willing to go to the Premier League. If you talk to any player, it's like, okay, come to Leipzig, you know, for a certain time, but in the end, my dream is the Premier League,” Schafer said.

One option, to be sure, is to look over the Red Bull organization as a whole. New York Red Bulls, for example, have a fine crop of youngsters coming through - including highly rated striker Julian Hall and promising midfielder Adri Mehmeti. Both have been linked with moves to Leipzig.

“In New York, it's not really a big secret that you have really fantastic young players like Julian Hall and Adri Mehmeti… of course it's the intention and a clear goal to keep them in the Red Bull family and to show them a pathway where we convince them to go step by step with us,” Schafer said.

Both would be shrewd signings, the kind of deals Leipzig have pulled off in the past to great effect. But Leipzig aren’t counting on them like they used to. Now, they have to develop their own.

“It has changed a lot. You need to develop rising stars. You need to develop almost world-class players. We know what will happen, but in the end, that will bring you to the focus, to the fans, to the young fans, to the new generation of soccer. That's key,” Schafer said.

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