Berlin, Jan 7 (IANS): German football club VfB Stuttgart has appointed Indian origin Robin Dutt as its new director of sport.

The former Bundesliga coach has penned a deal until Dec 2018, reports Xinhua.

"Robin Dutt's proposed sportive concept, with the focus on the optimization of structures and the management of the squad, have fully convinced the President and the supervisory committee," Joachim Schmidt, Stuttgart's chairman of the supervisory board said in a press conference Tuesday.

"We are sure that he can stabilise and refine the VfB in the sportive department, with all his expertise, experience, network as well as his team-orientated leadership style".

The 49-year-old new has coached several Bundesliga teams. He helped Freiburg to return into the first division when he was coach from 2007 until 2011.

In June 2011 he took the reins at Bayer Leverkusen where he was sacked in April 2012 following poor performances.

Born to a Bengali father, Dutt, also worked for the German Soccer Association (DFB) as a director of sport. Dutt then took the helm at Werder Bremen in May 2013 before he was dismissed in October 2014.

"With the constantly changing environment of the Bundesliga the club faces major challenges. In the short term we will do our utmost to stay up in the top flight. On the long term we want to combine our various departments to create conditions for a positive development," Dutt said.

Stuttgart presently occupy the 15th place in the league standings, having one eye on the relegation battle, as they sit just two points above the drop zone.