23.11.2015 16:03 h

Galatasaray turn back to Denizli after 23 years

Turkish football giants Galatasaray on Monday said they would appoint Mustafa Denizli as new coach, marking a return to his former club for the veteran coach after a 23-year break.

The former Turkish international player has had an extraordinary managerial career spanning almost three decades, managing Galatasaray on two previous occasions from 1987-1989 and 1990-1992.

Since last taking charge of Galatasaray, Denizli has managed both its Istanbul arch rivals Fenerbahce and Besiktas, the Turkish national team, not to mention sides in Iran and Azerbaijan.

His return to the club comes after the sacking last week of former coach Hamza Hamzaoglu, a move seen as harsh in many quarters after Galatasaray won the Super Lig title last season.

Denizli, 66, agreed to come back following a meeting with the club's powerful chairman Dursun Ozbek, Turkish media reported.

"We have reached an agreement in principle and shaken hands," Ozbek said alongside Denizli. "We will sign the detailed contracts in 1-2 days," he added.

Pointing to the weight of the task ahead, Denizli added: "The place to risk everything is Galatasaray. I am excited."

"I opened the parenthesis of my career here and I hope to close them with success," he added.

Denizli won the Turkish Super Lig in his first year as Galatasaray head coach in the 1987/1988 season.

In an achievement that has yet to be matched, he also won the Super Lig with Fenerbahce in 2000/2001 and then with Beskitas in 2008/2009, making him the only coach to have won the title at the helm of Istanbul's three main clubs.

Denizli will need all his nous and experience to haul Galatasaray out of their current doldrums and bring the best out of international stars like German international Lukas Podolski and Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder.

Galatasaray are lagging in third place in the Turkish top flight seven points behind leaders Besiktas while the club have also made a slow start to its Champions League campaign in Group C.