Rangnick departs Hoffenheim

Ralf Rangnick has walked out on Hoffenheim after midfielder Luis Gustavo was sold without the coach’s consent.

Rangnick, 52, has been with the club since 2006, steering them from the third tier of German football to the Bundesliga.

But the former Schalke 04 coach has now quit the Rhein-Neckar-Arena following the unsanctioned sale of Brazilian midfielder Gustavo to Bayern Munich.

Rangnick has repeatedly insisted that Gustavo was not for sale, but it appears club owner Dietmar Hopp and general manager Ernst Tanner have approved the transfer behind the manager’s back.

Assistant manager Marco Pezzaiuoli will assume control of the first team until the end of the season.

“He already knows the team and that is a huge advantage,” Hopp told the Mannheimer Morgen newspaper.

“I am confident that we will not slide into danger.”