Jurgen Klopp is set to be officially unveiled as Germany's new head coach in the coming days, taking over from Julian Nagelsmann with the key details of his exit from Red Bull already resolved.
According to Bild, the 59-year-old is finalising his backroom staff and, alongside long-time lieutenants Peter Krawietz and Pepijn Lijnders, plans to bring in Sven Bender as an assistant coach — a player Klopp managed for six years during his time at Borussia Dortmund.
Bender only terminated his contract as head coach of fourth-tier SpVgg Unterhaching earlier this month. He and Klopp won the Bundesliga title together in 2011 and the domestic double the following year during Bender's eight seasons as a Dortmund player, and Bender later returned to the club as an assistant coach under Edin Terzic and Nuri Sahin.
Germany's official unveiling of Klopp is expected this week, with the Nations League offering the first competitive test in September.
On the pitch, Dortmund are pushing to complete a very different piece of business. Sporting director Ole Book and chief executive Lars Ricken travelled to Belgium on Tuesday for further talks over Konstantinos Karetsas, with Dortmund raising their offer to KRC Genk to just over €30m including add-ons and a sell-on clause — only marginally higher than their previous proposal. Genk have not yet responded to the new bid and were previously seeking up to €40m for the 18-year-old.
Karetsas has already agreed personal terms on a contract through to 2031 and is understood to strongly favour a move to Dortmund over other suitors, including AC Milan, despite interest from elsewhere in Europe.
An update from Greek outlet Gazzetta on Tuesday afternoon put Dortmund's bid at €31-32m, with Genk also in line for a 15-20% sell-on clause. No final agreement has been reached, but sources close to the negotiations describe both parties as optimistic that a deal can be completed soon.