Red Bull Salzburg need Liverpool deputy director Pep Lijnders as their new head coach.
The Austrian club, which broke with Gerhard Struber last month, sees Lijnders as the ideal candidate to take over.
It would be an opportunity for the 41-year-old Dutchman, who will leave Liverpool after a decade of service when the curtain falls on Jurgen Klopp’s reign following Sunday’s season finale against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Lijnders has made no secret of his preference for pursuing his own coaching career and has gauged interest from clubs across Europe. Recently, Besiktas fired him after firing coach Fernando Santos.
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Salzburg promoted Onur Cinel from Liefering to the position of interim coach following Struber’s sacking a month ago.
Their dominance over Austrian football is in danger of being shattered as the final matchday of the season approaches on Sunday. To retain the name for the eleventh season in a row, second-placed Salzburg will have to beat LASK and hope that leaders Sturm Graz, who have a two-point lead, fail to beat Austria Klagenfurt.
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Lijnders joined Liverpool as under-16 coach in 2014 before being promoted to the first team through Brendan Rodgers the following year.
He left in January 2018 for a brief stint in charge of NEC Nijmegen in his home country, but returned to Merseyside five months later after Klopp presented him with the position of deputy director and has since been in charge of overseeing the training programme.
Speaking about his managerial aspirations in February, Lijnders said: “In fact, I think it’s a natural progression.
“I said I’d be done with Jurgen; I probably wouldn’t help anyone else, that’s when I’ll stop by and drive. We are completing this task along with the one we started.
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(René Nijhuis/BSR Agency/Getty Images)