Bill Leckie moots Klopp appointment at Ibrox after what he heard about Rangers manager hunt

Jurgen Klopp has been mooted as a surprise candidate to replace Barry Ferguson as the Rangers manager.

Ferguson is unlikely to be given a chance beyond this season after Rangers crashed out of the UEFA Europa League last week.

Andrew Cavenagh and Paraag Marathe, who are weeks away from announcing their takeover, are poised to bring in a new name to take the reins at Ibrox instead.

The incoming owners have seemingly set the ball rolling for such big changes, with departing Everton director of football, Kevin Thelwell, already lined up as the Gers’ new sporting director.

Klopp to Rangers on cards as manager hunt takes ‘surprise’ turn

Thelwell is already considered a great appointment for Rangers, not least because of his role in helping Everton navigate through their financial struggles.

The Welshman also has experience working in the Red Bull football ecosystem under his belt, having served as New York’s director of football for two years between 2020 and 2022.

Club	Role	Appointed	Until
Everton	Director of football	February 2022	End of 2024-25 season
New York Red Bulls	Director of football	February 2020	February 2022
Wolves	Sporting director	August 2016	February 2020

With Marathe also working closely with Red Bull at Leeds, Roger Hannah believes Rangers could rope in someone from the football group’s ranks as their new manager.

It wouldn’t surprise me, given that Kevin Thelwell has a Red Bull link, if it’s someone who is a known quantity to the people who are coming in”, Hannah said on the Coffee Club FC (23 April).

This led to Bill Leckie suggesting Klopp, who was appointed as Red Bull’s head of global soccer in January, as an ambitious manager candidate for the Ibrox outfit.

“Jurgen Klopp?”, the journalist asked.