Robbie Keane has been appointed manager of 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 Janssen, who has moved to coach New York, with Ferencvaros second in the table after 16 games.
📣 Announcement: Robbie Keane is the new coach of Ferencváros.💚🤍 pic.twitter.com/dwr11oGpqY
— Ferencvárosi TC (@Fradi_HU) January 6, 2025
A statement on the club’s official website said: “We are announcing Dutchman Pascal Jansen’s successor to lead our 35-time champions and 24-time cup winners as 146-time Republic of Ireland international Robbie Keane signed on Monday.
“The new coach arrived in Budapest on Sunday afternoon 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 assistant to Ireland manager Mick McCarthy during his second spell in charge, later taking on 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 escape relegation from the Premier League at the end of the 2022-23 season, but was then offered the chance to manage Maccabi on his own.
His first game will be a Europa League game against Eintracht Frankfurt on January 23.