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American Jesse Marsch appointed new Leipzig manager

FC Salzburg manager Jesse Marsch will take the job at RB Leipzig, with the American set to move on from the Austrian club to the German side next season.

Marsch, 47, will replace Julian Nagelsmann, who will join Bundesliga defending champions Bayern Munich next season after signing a five-year-contract.

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Marsch returns to Leipzig, where he was assistant manager at during the 2018-19 campaign under Ralf Rangnick. Salzburg are six points clear from Rapid Vienna in the championship round of the Austrian Bundesliga, while they still hope to tie up the Austrian Cup final on May 1 for the third season running.

Marsch began his coaching career in 2010 with an assistant role with the United States men's national team before taking charge of Major League Soccer outfit Montreal Impact the following year. His playing career spanned from 1996 to 2009 with three MLS clubs -- D.C. United, Chicago Fire FC, and Chivas USA -- and he had two caps for the USMNT.

In 2015, he became New York Red Bulls coach and guided them to the MLS Supporters' Shield and picked up the MLS Coach of the Year award that same year.

He left NYRB in 2018 for RB Leipzig, another club in the Red Bull system. It was seen as a gamble at the time, but Marsch impressed under Rangnick and it led to him taking charge of FC Salzburg in 2019.

Salzburg and Leipzig are sister clubs, with a number of players moving from the Austrian club to the German side. During his first season in charge of Salzburg, Marsch led them to a league and cup double -- becoming the first American coach to win a major trophy in Europe.

Marsch was confirmed on Thursday, just 48 hours after reports emerged Leipzig were also considering VfL Wolfsburg manager Oliver Glasner, and VfB Stuttgart boss Pellegrino Matarazzo. But Leipzig CEO Oliver Mintzlaff has opted for Marsch, who will be charged with chasing down Nagelsmann's Bayern next season.

Marsch was also on the radar of Eintracht Frankfurt and Tottenham Hotspur, sources told ESPN, but Mintzlaff is delighted to have got his man.

"With Jesse Marsch we were able to appoint our dream candidate as the new head coach and quickly fill the most important position in the sporting field at RB Leipzig with a top coach," Mintzlaff said. "Jesse has done an excellent job in all of his previous positions and has developed step by step.

"It is naturally a great advantage that he has already worked for RB Leipzig for a year. Jesse knows the club, the city of Leipzig and above all our club and game philosophy. In addition to his qualities as a coach, Jesse is characterised above all by his positive and ambitious manner he can inspire people in and around the club and take them with him. We look forward to working with Jesse Marsch so that we can continue on our chosen path with him and continue to develop the club. "

With Marsch's arrival, five of the Bundesliga top seven clubs -- Bayern, Leipzig, Wolfsburg, Frankfurt, Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Monchengladbach -- will have a new person in the dugout for the 2021-22 season.