Gerets the frontrunner to replace Zenga at Al Jazira

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  • Top target: Gerets is wanted by Al Jazira to replace Zenga.

    Former Lekhwiya boss Eric Gerets has emerged as the leading contender to replace Walter Zenga at Al Jazira, after the Italian’s dismissal was confirmed on Wednesday.

    Zenga, who succeeded Luis Milla last October, departed the capital side in the aftermath of their AFC Champions League exit at the hands of neighbours Al Ain.

    Jazira hope to reveal the 54-year-old’s successor in the next week.

    Lekhwiya announced the exit of former Belgian international Gerets on Sunday, ending an 18-month tenure in which he led them to the Qatar Stars League title and Crown Prince Cup.

    The ex-PSV Eindhoven, Marseille and Galatasaray boss has long been linked with a switch to the Emirates, previously coming close to landing the Al Ain job last year.

    For Zenga, the call brings a premature end to his employment seven months into a deal that was due to expire in summer 2015.

    Upon joining he was tasked with qualifying for next season’s AFC competition and making the Arabian Gulf Cup final. The ex-Al Nasr coach met both these targets after he guided Jazira from eighth when he arrived to third in the Arabian Gulf League, with defeat coming in last month’s showpiece meeting at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium to allconquering Al Ahli.

    Following the 4-2 aggregate loss to the Boss in the ACL, Zenga insisted he was in negotiations to prolong his stay and set his sights on a productive pre-season training regime.

    When quizzed about his future, he replied: “Talk with the managers, what do you want from my side? I have a contract until 2015 and am talking about extending it until 2016.”

    Jazira enjoyed a golden spell under Zenga either side of Christmas, winning six out of seven AGL matches.

    Question marks began to develop around his position during a six-game winless run that began in mid-March. He leaves the Pride of Abu Dhabi with a record of 15 wins from 35 games across all competitions.

    “We would like to state our thanks to Mr Zenga for all efforts during his time with us,” Jazira stated on Twitter.

    Zenga was not the only departure announced by the club, with Asian player Shin Hyun-min set to follow him after the decision was made not to renew a contract which expires this summer.

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