Rangers appoint PSV Eindhoven scouting chief Nils Koppen as director of football recruitment - with the 38-year-old tasked with overhauling the Scottish giants' ailing transfer department

Rangers have appointed PSV Eindhoven scouting chief Nils Koppen as the man to help spearhead their recruitment overhaul. 

The 38-year-old has been with the Dutch giants since 2018, working with the academy and first-team before becoming head of scouting. 

Koppen will now move to Rangers on January 2 and take on the role of director of football recruitment. His appointment is not a like-for-like replacement for sporting director Ross Wilson, who carried a broader remit prior to his exit for Nottingham Forest in April. 

Koppen will instead feed his expertise into the Ibrox club’s football board, which oversees strategy relating to squad planning, contracts and player trading. 

Chairman John Bennett, chief executive James Bisgrove, manager Philippe Clement, director of football operations Creag Robertson, medical director Dr Mark Waller and academy director Zeb Jacobs also sit on the football board. 

Koppen previously crossed paths with Clement when he was in charge of academy recruitment at Genk during the 49-year-old’s title-winning spell with the Belgian side.

In comments released alongside the Rangers accounts last month, Bennett stressed the importance of improving on player recruitment and promised ‘a strengthening in the leadership and processes of our football department, specifically with this in mind’. 

Koppen expressed determination to help deliver future transfer-market profits, saying: ‘I am delighted to be joining such a prestigious club like Rangers in what is a crucial role for the club’s forward strategy.’ 

Rangers also confirmed the appointment of Tom Taylor as the club’s new head of performance. Currently with Brighton, Taylor will begin work on December 22.