Wednesday, January 05, 2011

Rangnick Interested In Reds

Former Hoffenheim boss Ralf Rangnick's agent has claimed he would love the opportunity to manage in England, though no offers have come his way so far.

The German, who had significant success in guiding his former club from obscurity into the Bundesliga, left on New Year's Day, and has been touted as a potential candidate for Roy Hodgson's Liverpool job.

Rangnick originally demonstrated his potential by leading Ulm from the third tier into the top division in the late 1990s, before embarking on wealthy Hoffenheim owner Dietmar Hopp's ambitious plan to take his boyhood club to the top in 2006.

He duly obliged in delivering that success, however due to differences in opinion with Hopp after the sale of key player Luiz Gustavo to Bayern Munich, he parted ways.

Commenting on the Liverpool job, in which Hodgson is coming under increasing pressure, agent Oliver Mintzlaff acknowledged that the position was "very interesting".

"Ralf Rangnick is very interested in the Premier League and Liverpool is certainly a very interesting club with a great tradition," he said.

"Ralf is a great fan of English football and he has followed it a great deal.

"The English Premier League is something which interests him very much, but there have not been any discussions with Liverpool.

"Of course if you don't have any ambition, then you cannot be a football manager.

"Hoffenheim was an exciting, unique project and he led them into the Bundesliga in only two years, and they were never even close to a relegation berth.

"Now, in the third year in the Bundesliga, it is only understandable that he has the ambition to play in Europe.

"Unfortunately, his aims and those of Hopp were not entirely compatible.

"After four-and-a-half years (with Hoffenheim), it is only normal that he takes a short pause to catch his breath.

"But he is, of course, really burning to get a new job."

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