Pep Lijnders, Jürgen Klopp's assistant at Liverpool, has been named the new coach of RB Salzburg for next season.
Lijnders will follow Klopp in leaving the Premier League club at the end of the season and will sign a three-year contract with the Austrian side. He will be joined in Salzburg by Vitor Manos, who was the elite development coach at Liverpool.
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Lijnders, 41, joined Liverpool in 2014 and became first-team development coach in 2015.
He worked under Brendan Rodgers and stayed on when Klopp became manager in October 2015.
He left Liverpool briefly in 2018, when he managed NEC Nijmegen in the Netherlands for five months, but returned to Liverpool for the 2018-19 campaign as assistant manager, where he remained until the end of this campaign.
“I am very proud to become the new coach of FC Red Bull Salzburg,” said Lijnders.
“This is a real privilege for me. After PSV Eindhoven, FC Porto and Liverpool FC, I now move to another exceptional club with a very good structure and a particular focus on youth development.
“I want to develop a mentality in the team that places a lot of emphasis on the offensive style of play and where passion and hunger for success are the basis of everything.
“Together with my assistant coach Vitor Matos and the entire support team, we will do everything possible to help the club continue to grow in a constantly changing world of football.”
RB Salzburg sporting director Bernhard Seonbuchner said: “We have managed to find in Pepijn Lijnders the ideal candidate for the position of coach of FC Red Bull Salzburg.
“He is a true football expert and has been a great influence in a very successful era for Liverpool with his qualities in player development.
“The conversations with him were a great success and there was a clear agreement on how we want to play, what we are as a club and where we want to go together. We are looking forward to spending time with him.” , but first we will do everything possible to bring the current season to a successful end.”
News of Lijnders' departure from Liverpool was expected when Klopp announced his departure in January. The club is expected to name current Feyenoord coach Arne Slot as the new coach next week. Slot is bringing along his assistant Sipke Hulshoff as his first date, sources told ESPN.
At Liverpool, Lijnders was alongside Klopp as they led the club to the 2019 Champions League, the 2020 Premier League title, the 2022 FA Cup and two League Cup titles.
