Official: Ralf Rangnick leaves RB Leipzig
Ralf Rangnick will leave his position as sporting director of RB Leipzig.
After spending seven years at RB Leipzig, Ralf Rangnick will leave his position as sporting director on July 1 at his own request, the club have announced.
The 60-year-old will work as Red Bull's Head of Sport and Development Soccer instead. He will still have an advisory role at RB Leipzig, though.
"Ralf expressed an early desire to take on a more global function. We initially put the talks on hold in the second half of the season, and then we had good talks after the cup final," RB Leipzig CEO Oliver Mintzlaff said at a press conference today.
Rangnick will be responsible for the sporting development of Red Bull's football clubs in the United States (New York Red Bulls) and Brazil (Red Bull Bragantino).
Markus Krösche will take over the position as sporting director of RB Leipzig from Rangnick. The 38-year-old joins the club from Paderborn on a three-year deal.
"We are delighted to have hired Markus Krösche as sporting director. He was the absolute favourite candidate of Ralf Rangnick, and with his appointment, we're getting a proven expert," Mintzlaff said.
Rangnick contract with RB Leipzig wasn't due to expire until 2021, but he felt a huge desire to take on his new job already now.
"I thought about waiting for two years before taking on this role, but my conviction that I should take on the job already now has been growing. I'm looking forward to it very much. In the coming weeks, I will be working together with Markus Krösche and Julian Nagelsmann (RB Leipzig's new head coach) about handing over the team in the best possible way," he said.
