Salzburg confirm Liverpool's Lijnders as coach

Pep Lijnders, Jürgen Klopp’s assistant at Liverpool, has been appointed as RB Salzburg‘s new manager ahead of next season.

Lijnders will follow Klopp in leaving the Premier League club at the end of the season and will take up a three-year contract at 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 when Klopp became manager in Oct. 2015.

He left Liverpool for a brief spell 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 stayed through to the end of this campaign.

“I am very proud to become the new head coach of FC Red Bull Salzburg,” Lijnders said.

“This is a real privilege for me. After PSV Eindhoven, FC Porto and Liverpool FC, I am now moving to another exceptional club with a really good structure and a particular focus on youth development.

“I want to develop a mentality with the team that places a lot of emphasis on attacking 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 our best to help the club continue to grow in an ever-changing football world.”

RB Salzburg’s sporting director Bernhard Seonbuchner said: “We have been able to get an ideal candidate for the coaching position at FC Red Bull Salzburg in Pepijn Lijnders.

“He is a real football expert and has been a huge influence on a very successful time for Liverpool with his qualities in developing players.

“The discussions with him were a great success, and there was a clear agreement on the way we want to play, what we are about as a club, and where we want to go together. We are really looking forward to our time with him, but we will do everything we can to take the current season to a successful end first.”

The news of Lijnders’ departure from Liverpool was expected when Klopp announced his departure in January. The club is expected to appoint current Feyenoord boss Arne Slot as their new manager next week. Slot will bring with him his assistant Sipke Hulshoff as his first appointment, sources told ESPN.

At Liverpool, Lijnders was alongside Klopp as they steered the club to the 2019 Champions League, the 2020 Premier League title, the FA Cup in 2022 and two League Cup titles.