RB Leipzig parts ways with Ole Werner – Demichelis as successor

Background: Werner's tenure in Leipzig

The official justification from the club is decidedly matter-of-fact. "We have once again intensively and conclusively analyzed the past season in recent days. We have analyzed the season," said managing director Marcel Schäfer. "For their private and sporting future, we wish Ole, Tom, and Patrick all the best," Schäfer added, thereby including the departing assistant coaches Tom Cichon and Patrick Kohlmann.

Behind the scenes, however, dissatisfaction with Werner is said to have been greater than the sporting result would suggest. According to information from the club's circle, the key question was how the club intends to handle the upcoming workload from the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, and Champions League. "We then thought about what that could look like with the workload that is coming our way," is the word from the Leipzig executive floor.

The reporting names concrete figures within the club structure: according to this, the criticism of Werner reportedly came primarily from supervisory board chief Oliver Mintzlaff as well as from the global football division of the Red Bull Group, in which Jürgen Klopp and former national team player Mario Gomez play an advisory role. "Ole did a class job," Klopp said before the English national team's World Cup match against Croatia in Dallas, but added: "We are active in an advisory capacity as a global team. But we also have to look forward at the same time."

Internal criticism of Werner's tenure

Klopp also referred to the club itself when it came to justifying the move. "Everything there is to say about it comes from Leipzig," the 59-year-old stressed. "Then they decided in Leipzig on the change," Klopp continued. No substantive distancing from the decision was discernible in his words.

Werner still had a contract in Leipzig running until 2027. Little is known so far about the terms of the separation. According to reports, a compensation fee is being discussed in the range between 2.5 and 3 million euros.

Financially affected is also Werner's former club Werder Bremen. As part of his 1.5 million-euro move from the Weser to the Weiße Elster last summer, performance-related bonus payments for both contract years had been agreed upon when he signed in Leipzig. According to information from the "Bild" newspaper, 250,000 euros for the first year had already fallen due, and due to the termination of the employment contract, Werder must now forgo further bonus money. The bonuses could have netted the Bremen side up to half a million euros extra.

Financial consequences for Werder Bremen

Martín Demichelis has emerged as the favorite for the succession. The 45-year-old Argentine is currently still under contract at RCD Mallorca, but is said to be able to leave the Spanish club thanks to a release clause. Demichelis, who played as a professional for FC Bayern between 2003 and 2011, had only recently extended his contract in Mallorca until 2028.

The Demichelis candidacy fits the profile Leipzig is evidently looking for: a coach with international experience, a Bundesliga past, and routine in handling a club with a broad squad. The RB squad comprises 28 players; most recently, Benno Kaltefleiter had been transferred.

Demichelis as the preferred candidate

Whether the separation from Werner and the planned signing of Demichelis are directly linked has not been officially confirmed. The wording from the Leipzig camp, however, points to a deliberate strategic reorientation that goes beyond pure results analysis. "I won't take part in speculation now," was the word from Leipzig.

The news was broadcast on 18 June 2026 on the Deutschlandfunk program. The official announcement thus comes barely three weeks after the final Bundesliga matchday of the 2025/26 season. Leipzig had ended the season with 65 points in third place and, after a year without European competition, qualified for the Champions League.

Werner's sporting record is not undisputed in this context: while he brought the club back into the premier competition, the major tasks in the Bundesliga against FC Bayern and Borussia Dortmund largely went unanswered over long stretches. Added to this was the performance in the DFB-Pokal, deemed unsatisfactory, in which Leipzig exited earlier than expected.

In the coming season, RB Leipzig faces a mammoth schedule. Alongside Bundesliga routine and the DFB-Pokal, the Champions League brings the highest European workload. It was precisely this multiple burden that evidently fueled doubts in Leipzig about the suitability of the previous coaching staff.

Outlook for the coming season

By parting ways early, before the start of the new pre-season preparation, the club gives itself the opportunity to build up a successor in calm and to sharpen its own profile clearly. The search is unlikely to be limited to Demichelis, even though the Argentine is considered the preferred candidate according to consistent reporting.

The sporting leadership around managing director Marcel Schäfer thus faces a directional decision that could shape the club for years to come. Leipzig has repeatedly opted for coaching changes in summer in recent years in order to give fresh impulses room to develop.