Shanghai SIPG are about to announced the sacking of coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, and the appointment of Portuguese Andre Villas-Boas, formerly manager at English Premier League clubs Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, as his replacement.
Former England boss Eriksson took charge of the Chinese Super League club almost exactly two years ago in a reported US$6 million a year deal. The Swede took them to second place in the CSL in his first season in charge in 2015, pushing perennial champions Guangzhou Evergrande to the very last day of the season, and qualifying for the Asian Champions League.
The 2016 season saw the club taking a perceived step back though, finishing 12 points adrift of champions Guangzhou, with only a late surge seeing them pass arch city rivals Shanghai Shenhua into third place in the CSL. Elimination in the fourth round of the Chinese FA Cup and the quarter-finals of the Asian Champions League left SIPG without silverware.
That was despite spending big money, including the signing of Brazilian forwards Elkeson from Guangzhou for a reported US$20 million and Hulk from Zenit Saint Petersburg for US$61 million, an Asian transfer fee record. No return on the investments evidently unacceptable to the ambitious club, despite Eriksson having one more year on his contract.
Meanwhile, Andre Villas-Boas has been spotted dining in Shanghai (above). Interestingly, Villas-Boas has been coach of Hulk on two previous occasions - once when he was boss of Portuguese side Porto from 2010-11, and again when he was at Russian side Zenit Saint Petersburg from 2014-16 (pictured together below). All of which has led to speculation that the Brazil international striker may have played a role in the move.
Shanghai SIPG will hold a press conference tomorrow (Friday) afternoon, Beijing time.
[Images via batam.tribunnews.com, sportti.com]
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