Former Rangers Chief enters new role at Champions League club as job promotion triggers Ibrox deja vu
The former Light Blues Technical Director will now be in charge of transfer matters at his current club.
Nils Koppen has a new role at his current club FC Copenhagen in a promotion that will see him be given more responsibility for the Danish giants.
The Belgian was appointed as Rangers’ Director of Football Recruitment in January 2024, where he worked alongside his countryman Philippe Clement. He was then promoted to Technical Director in November of the same year before leaving the club in May 2025. Koppen oversaw the signings of the likes of Hamza Igamane and Jefte during his Ibrox tenure, a pair the club made a healthy profit on.
Koppen has since moved on to Copenhagen, who were competing in the Champions League earlier this season. Upon a club restructure, once again the 40-year old has moved up to Technical Director, as they prepare for the summer transfer window after what so far, has been a disastrous domestic campaign. The reigning Danish Champions currently sit eighth in the Superliga standings. Former Technical Director Andreas Hintze Rocks will now go into recruitment.
FC Copenhagen statement on Koppen promotion
A club statement read: “FC Copenhagen’s sporting organization is being adjusted to ensure better utilisation of the specialists’ skills. Nils Koppen takes over the position of Technical Director from Andreas Hintze Rocks, who will now be Recruitment Insights Lead in the sporting department under the club’s Technical Director.
“The purpose of the reorganisation is to create a clear interim structure and to ensure the optimal utilisation of the two specialists’ competencies. The change is at the request of Andreas Hintze Rocks, and he and Nils Koppen will continue their close collaboration.
“Nils Koppen comes from the position of Head of Scouting and Recruitment and takes over as acting Technical Director, and he will therefore lead the preparations for FC Copenhagen’s summer transfer window until a new sporting director can take office.”
Koppen takes similar Ibrox role
Koppen came to Ibrox with a reputation and was responsible for enlisting some current Ibrox stars such as Mohamed Diomande from FC Nordsjaelland and Connor Barron from Aberdeen. That being said, he was also partly responsible for the disastrous signing of Oscar Cortes, who Rangers were obliged to buy for around £4.5 million despite a failed, injury-plagued loan spell.
FC Copenhagen CEO, Jacob Lauesen is looking forward to seeing what Koppen has to offer in his new role. He added: “Nils will be responsible for everything related to transfers, and we are pleased that he is taking on this important responsibility so that we have a clear organization for the sporting work in the coming period. The adjustment should be seen as part of the preliminary analysis of the club’s sporting structure, and Nils and I will be running a close partnership in the near future.”