Leipzig's Rangnick to head sports, development of soccer at Red Bull

BERLIN (Reuters) - RB Leipzig sports director Ralf Rangnick has requested to leave his post at the end of the month and take over as the head of sport and development of soccer at Red Bull, the Bundesliga club said on Tuesday.

(Reuters)

Rangnick, who has held the position at Leipzig since 2012, has also coached the club at times, including in the past season when they finished third in the Bundesliga to secure a spot in next season's Champions League group stage.

"Ralf Rangnick becomes on July 1 at his own request the head of sport and development soccer at Red Bull," RB Leipzig said in a statement.

"The 60-year-old will be active in a consultancy role in this position at the soccer locations of New York, Brazil and Leipzig."

RB Leipzig are one of four clubs worldwide controlled by the Austrian drinks maker. The others are in Salzburg, New York and in Brazil.

Rangnick will be replaced in Leipzig by Markus Kroesche, who arrived from freshly promoted Paderborn.

(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; editing by Sudipto Ganguly)