The mass media in Turkey reports that Romanian coach Mircea Lucescu will return to the Turkish football championship by coaching the Galatasaray team. The Turkish journalists claim that Lucescu might receive a pretty high salary, mounting to EUR 3 M per year. The Romanian famous coach could arrive in Istanbul this summer and will have his son, Răzvan Lucescu, as assistant coach.
Mircea Lucescu has only several weeks left at the helm of Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk, as he is coaching the Ukrainian team since 2004. However, he had already announced that he was not going to extend his contract despite the fact he had a successful career in Donetsk, winning the champion title eight times.
Hurriyet newspaper writes that Galatasaray is the team having the most chances to get the 70-year-old coach’s signature. According to this source, Galata would have offered Lucescu a salary of EUR 2.5 M- EUR 3 M for the first season and a budget of EUR 65 M for transfers. Lucescu informed the Turkish club that he would come to negotiations after May 15 when the Ukrainian championship comes to an end.
Mircea Lucescu also coached Galatasaray during 2000-2002, managing to win the championship and UEFA Super Cup.
He was named Romania’s Coach of the Year in 2004, 2010, 2012, and in 2014. In 2013 Lucescu was awarded the manager of the decade award in Romania.