Robbie Keane has been appointed head coach at Hungarian champions Ferencvaros.
The 44-year-old former Liverpool, Leeds and Tottenham forward won the title in Israel with Maccabi Tel Aviv last season and now has a new challenge in Europe.
He replaces Pascal Jansen, who has moved to coach New York City FC, with Ferencvaros in second place in the table after 16 games.
📣 Announcement: Robbie Keane is the new head coach of Ferencváros.💚🤍 pic.twitter.com/dwr11oGpqY
— Ferencvárosi TC (@Fradi_HU) January 6, 2025
A statement on the club’s official website said: “We announce the successor to Dutchman Pascal Jansen to lead our 35-time champion and 24-time cup winner team, as the 146-time national team player of the Republic of Ireland Robbie Keane has signed on Monday.
“The new head coach arrived in Budapest on Sunday evening and will leave on Tuesday to join our team at the training camp in Spain.”
Keane moved into coaching in 2018 as player-manager at ATK in India and worked as an assistant to Ireland boss Mick McCarthy during his second spell in charge, and later took up a similar role under former Spurs team-mate Jonathan Woodgate at Middlesbrough.
He was part of Sam Allardyce’s staff at Leeds as they unsuccessfully tried to pull off an unlikely escape from Premier League relegation at the end of the 2022-23 season, but was then offered the chance to manage in his own right by Maccabi.
His first match in charge will be a Europa League game against Eintracht Frankfurt on 23 January.
