Debutant RB Leipzig wants bigger stadium

Berlin - RB Leipzig is neck-and-neck with Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga table, but the new boy is already thinking big with plans for a new stadium.

Leipzig earned its place in Germany's top flight with four promotions in seven years and is on a Bundesliga record run for a newly-promoted club by going ten games unbeaten to draw level on 24 points with Bayern.

But according to daily newspaper Bild on Monday, RB Leipzig, who is sponsored by Austrian energy drink giants Red Bull, has had plans rejected for a new 70,000-capacity stadium outside the city centre in the exhibition district.

RB Leipzig currently plays at the Red Bull Arena - an impressive stadium, renovated for the 2006 World Cup - which is a short walk from the city's railway station.

However, it's capacity for 45,000 fans is already deemed too small by club bosses who want more hospitality boxes and seating.

City officials were delighted that Leipzig's Zentralstadion, now renamed the Red Bull Arena, is finally being regularly full for German league games and four of the five Bundesliga games so far have been sold out.

But Leipzig's mayor Burkhard Jung has said the club can not build elsewhere in the city and can only use the area of land they currently occupy for a new stadium.

"The Red Bull Arena can be reached by foot from the railway station and is well connected by the tram system," said Jung.

"Above all, it anchors the football and the club in the city and in the city's society."

But it's clear the city is doing all it can to keep the club happy.

The post of 'RB commissioner' is now being created in the town hall administration to act as a direct contact with the club for all stadium questions.

RB Leipzig want to make a final decision on plans for a new stadium, or a renovation of the current one, decided by the beginning of December.