Jurgen Klopp’s former long-term assistant Zeljko Buvac has joined Dynamo Moscow as sporting director, the club confirmed on Saturday. The 58-year-old coach had worked alongside the current Liverpool boss for 17 years at Mainz and Borussia Dortmund before leaving the Anfield side in April 2018.

Buvac has widely been credited as the brains behind Klopp’s success in Germany - including Mainz’s promotion to the top-flight, and two Bundesliga titles with Dortmund - and England. He arrives at the VTB Arena after weeks of negotiations according to Yuriy Solovev, chairman of the club’s board of directors.

“He carefully studied our proposal,” Solovev told Dynamo’s official media team. “It is not about the financial side of the issue, but about everything that concerns the strategic goals of Dynamo and the main directions of the team and the club's development.”

His role will involve all levels of the club but will differ to his previous job descriptions. “Zeljko comes to us as a sports director with all the proper powers,” Solovev continued. 

“He will work closely with the coaching staff of the main team, but without any participation in the training and game processes. Here, all the powers were and remain with Kirill Novikov.”

Buvac has signed a contract lasting until the summer of 2022.