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Football

Leko named as Shanghai SIPG head coach

The Chinese club announced the appointment of Ivan Leko as the team's new head coach becoming the successor to Vitor Pereira.

Update:
Soccer Football - Premier League - Everton v West Ham United - Goodison Park, Liverpool, Britain - January 1, 2021 General view of empty seats inside the stadium before the match Pool via REUTERS/Jan Kruger EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized aud
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Chinese club Shanghai SIPG announced on Friday that the Croatian Ivan Leko has been named as the football team's head coach replacing Vitor Pereira who led the club to their historic first league title in 2018.

Leko takes over in Shanghai

The Chinese club took to social media to make the announcement confirming that the former Royal Antwerp coach will be at the helm after Pereira's departure.

The 42-year-old won the Belgian league title with Club Brugge in 2018 before spending seven months at Al-Ain of theUAE in 2019. After that, he took charge of Royal Antwerp until last Wednesday when he resigned from his post to join the Chinese club.

Shanghai finished the last Chinese SIPG campaign in fourth place, two years after winning their first league title under former coach Pereira, and were eliminated from the AFC Champions League round of 16 by Japanese club Vissel Kobe.

Shanghai's current squad comprise some prominent players including ex-Chelsea's star Oscar and former West Ham player Marko Arnautovic after the departure of the highly-rated Brazilian, Hulk, who parted ways with the club after ACL elimination.