Klopp protégé Wagner becomes head of young talent at RB Leipzig

David Wagner is to become the new head of youth development at RB Leipzig. The 53-year-old succeeds Manuel Baum, who is surprisingly leaving the club at the end of the season for personal reasons. "Over the past few months, we have set an important course in the academy, and together with David Wagner, we primarily want to permanently and sustainably improve the permeability into the professional sector," said Marcel Schäfer, Managing Director of Sport at RB Leipzig.

Wagner and Klopp played together in Mainz

Wagner, who has been out of a job since leaving Norwich City in May 2024, recently spoke at the Wings Cup in Leipzig together with Jürgen Klopp on topics such as youth development and switching to the professional sector.

The two coaches already know each other from their time in the Mainz Bundesliga, where they played together for FSV. Wagner was later even best man at Klopp's wedding. Now Klopp, who works as Head of Global Soccer at the Red Bull Group, has brought his former companion and friend to the club in Leipzig.

Success with Huddersfield Town

They also crossed paths in England. Wagner coached Huddersfield Town from 2015 to early 2019 and was promoted to the Premier League with the club in 2017, where he met Klopp and Liverpool FC. Wagner took over the FC Schalke 04 team for the 2019/2020 season, but had to leave the following season after 18 games without a win in a row.

In the summer of 2021, he became head coach at Swiss champions Young Boys Bern, where he was released early after finishing second in the table. Wagner started at English second-division club Norwich City in January 2023 and was then also given a leave of absence there.