Ralf Rangnick names Sunderland as kind of club Red Bull could look at

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Ralf Rangnick has suggested that Sunderland would be the kind of club that Red Bull may be interested in if they expand further.

Former RB Leipzig boss Ralf Rangnick has told Bild that Red Bull would look to England if they wanted to expand further, and named Sunderland as the kind of club that they would be interested in in that event.

Red Bull own a number of clubs across the world. As well as Leipzig, their most famous sides include Red Bull Salzburg and New York Red Bulls.

And when asked whether the company could look to expand further, and where they could look to go, Rangnick suggested that the Football League may be of interest to them, and hinted that the Black Cats could be the kind of club that ticks the boxes.

“If we wanted to expand, only one club in England would make sense,” he told Bild. “A third-tier league team like maybe Sunderland or Milton Keynes.

“But problems would arise if the club pushed into international business. Then we would have the same situation as with Leipzig and Salzburg, that would not be done because of the UEFA regulations.”

Of course, Sunderland are currently in the process of being taken over. The Sun on Sunday (30/6; page 59) reported at the weekend however, that Mark Campbell’s consortium’s move to buy the club was in doubt over the £53 million asking price.

Of course, Rangnick is not making any suggestion that Red Bull are actively interested in taking over at the Stadium of Light. But it is not difficult to see why they were named in the interview.

Sunderland have a huge amount of potential as a club. It appears to be a matter of time before they are back in the Championship, and they are one of those teams that if they can get back into the top flight, they have every chance of re-establishing themselves as a mid-table outfit at that level.

But with Red Bull considered quite a controversial company in football due to their building of a portfolio of clubs, it would be interesting to know what the Sunderland fans make of Rangnick’s comments regarding whether they would welcome such an approach in future.