RB Leipzig sign Jesse Marsch to succeed coach Nagelsmann next season

Berlin (dpa) – RB Leipzig have signed coach Jesse Marsch from Red Bull Salzburg on a two-year contract until 2023 to replace the departing Julian Nagelsmann, both clubs confirmed on Thursday.

Leipzig needed a new head coach after Nagelsmann announced he will join Bayern Munich in the summer, replacing treble winning coach Hansi Flick.

Marsch still had a contract with Salzburg until 2022, and therefore Leipzig will reportedly pay a small transfer fee. Both clubs are part of the Red Bull empire, which also backs clubs in the United States and in Brazil.

“In Jesse Marsch, we have been able to recruit our main head coach and quickly fill the most important position in the sporting side of the club with a top coach,” Leipzig chief Oliver Mintzlaff said.

Leipzig have solved their most important staffing issue ahead of the German Cup semi-final at Werder Bremen on Friday, but are yet to find a new sporting director to replace Markus Kroesche.

The 47-year-old Marsch from the US has been part of the Red Bull football group for over six years and returns to Leipzig, where he worked as an assistant coach in 2018-19.

“It’s of course a great advantage that he already worked for a year at RB Leipzig. Jesse knows the club, the city of Leipzig and, above all, the club and playing philosophy,” Mintzlaff said.

Marsch joined Salzburg in June 2019 and since then helped the team to win 59 of his 89 matches in charge. His highlights were the league and cup wins in the 2019-20 season and two UEFA Champions League group stage campaigns.

In the current season, the team have another chance of winning both the Austrian Bundesliga and Cup under Marsch.

“I’ve cleared up my future as a coach. My full focus now though is 100 per cent on the last three weeks with FC Red Bull Salzburg. Our big aims of retaining the cup and league title are all that count for me for now,” Marsch was quoted as saying in a Salzburg statement.

Salzburg sporting director Christoph Freund said “it has always been apparent that the chance to return to the German Bundesliga would be really appealing” to Marsch.

“The decision over his move to RB Leipzig came at short notice in the end, but we were prepared for this situation due to the open and fair discussions we held beforehand,” he added.

The Austrian club had already said former Hoffenheim player Matthias Jaissle will take the post of head coach.