Football - Southampton v Bayer Leverkusen - Pre Season Friendly - St Mary's Stadium - 14/15 - 9/8/14 Bayer Leverkusen coach Roger Schmidt (R) and his assistant Daniel Niedzkowski (C) Mandatory Credit: Action Images / Peter Cziborra/File Photo
LONDON (Reuters) - Brighton & Hove Albion have appointed Daniel Niedzkowski as assistant head coach, the Premier League club said on Saturday.
The 47-year-old German will leave his role as head of the German Football Association's (DFB) coaches training programme and will begin at Brighton in January.
"I am delighted to welcome Daniel to the club. He will be an excellent addition to our coaching team and will supplement the skill sets of our existing coaching staff," Brighton head coach Fabian Huerzeler said in a club statement.
"He is somebody I know very well from Germany and I have been keen to bring him here, alongside my other backroom staff."
Huerzeler, who took over as Brighton manager in the close season, trained under Niedzkowski.
Brighton technical director David Weir said Niedzkowski, who previously coached Germany's under 21s, would help to develop young players at the south coast club.
"He knows Fabian well from his time with the DFB. He knows what it takes to get the best out of young footballers and develop them into becoming first-team players, which is something that is crucial to our own DNA," Weir said.
"In his role he will also support the wider development of coach education and formulate a programme which will ensure the highest possible level of coaching from the academy upwards, across both our men's and women's teams."
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
