FORMER Almeria coach Unai Emery is to take charge of Valencia for the next two seasons, the Primera Liga club said yesterday.
The 36-year-old, whose contract with Almeria expired at the end of the season, will be presented today and will take up the position from 1 July, the club said in a statement on their website.
In his first season with Almeria, Emery led them to pr
omotion as second division runners-up in 2007 and then turned the south-coasters into one of the revelations of the Primera Liga.
They finished eighth in the standings and managed to claim the scalp of champions Real Madrid with a 2-0 home win in February.
He takes over a Valencia side that went through three coaches last season, starting with Quique Sanchez Flores, who was sacked at the end of October.
Ronald Koeman was brought in, but despite winning the King's Cup and a place in the next year's Uefa Cup, he presided over a steady slide down the table until he was sacked last month as relegation loomed large.
Salvador Gonzalez 'Voro' steered them to safety in a temporary role and they ended the campaign tenth. Valencia gave no financial details, but Sports daily Marca said Emery will receive an annual salary of £1.5 million.
Emery was appointed after a breakdown in negotiations with Racing Santander coach Marcelino Garcia Toral. Marcelino announced his departure from Santander on Wednesday, but said he had not signed with another team.
"He (Emery] doesn't feel as if he's a second choice because he has had other options before Valencia and he has chosen us," Valencia's technical secretary Juan Sanchez said. He also praised Emery for being "a brave coach" and for his "working methods".
• Police are searching for the president of Bulgarian club Litex Lovech Angel Bonchev, who disappeared in the early hours of yesterday. Bonchev was last seen returning home with his family in the Sofia district of Darvenitsa, police said. He was left alone to park his car but could not be found minutes later. His family said the car was locked and he was not reachable by mobile phone.
"It was like a bolt from the blue," Litex spokesman Alexandar Gigov told reporters. "We are still trying to collect more information."
Litex, one of the leading clubs in the Balkan country, won the Bulgarian Cup last week, beating Cherno More Varna 1-0 in the final.
