Former Mohun Bagan manager Juan Ferrando joins Cyprus club AEK Larnaca FC

The Spanish club left the ISL side in the 2023-24 season

Cyprus top division club AEK Larnaca have confirmed that Juan Ferrando has agreed to take up the position of their head coach. He’ll be starting from the beginning of the 2024-25 season, meaning that he will be managing a European club for the first time since 2020.

In an official statement, Larnaca confirmed that Ferrando has agreed to become their head coach and signed a two-year contract. He will be replacing Israeli manager Ran Ben Shimon, who did an admirable job guiding them in the 2023-24 season. Indeed, Larnaca competed strongly in the Cyprus First Division championship race with APOEL Nicosia. However, they barely missed out on the championship based on inferior goal difference, despite being tied on points with APOEL in the championship round.

Juan Ferrando will be tasked to help his side do one better and finally clinch the Cyprus First Division title after having come up as runners-up six times in the last decade. He will also have a big chance at guiding them to the UEFA Europa Conference League next season. Based on their second-place finish in the campaign, Larnaca will play in the Conference League qualifying second-round next season. They need to win in the second round and third round of qualifying to make it through to the group stages.

The Spanish gaffer has a decent amount of experience in coaching in Europe. Along with his exploits in Spain, he also worked as a head coach for Sheriff Tiraspol and the Greek club Volos. After being sacked as Mohun Bagan‘s head coach, Ferrando seemed to be determined to get back to managing in Europe and has landed himself a lucrative opportunity with the Cyprus club.

A few ISL clubs are looking to hire a new manager for the next season. Kerala Blasters are still looking to find Ivan Vukomanovic’s successor. Vukomanovic vacated his position as the club’s head coach at the end of the 2023-24 season after spending three years at the helm and helping them to three consecutive ISL playoff qualifications.

The ISL club has to work quickly to resolve their head coach situation so that they can properly focus for the upcoming 2024-25 season. Kerala Blasters are also set to make major changes to their squad and have been strongly linked with FC Goa forward Noah Sadaoui as an option to strengthen their backline.

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