Football: Coach Razvan Lucescu set to leave PAOK Thessaloniki for Al Hilal

Romanian coach Razvan Lucescu has announced on Saturday he would leave PAOK Thessaloniki, after winning the Championship and the Cup of Greece this year.

Lucescu said he triggers the early termination clause of the contract, and he is set to leave to Al Hilal, in Saudi Arabia.

Razvan Lucescu, 50, won in 2018, with PAOK the Championship and the Cup of Greece. Previously he coached another Greek football team, Xanthi. The former goalkeeper had coached in the past FC Brasov, Rapid Bucharest, El Jaish (Qatar), Petrolul Ploiesti and the Romanian national team during 2009-2011.

Sources quoted by digisport.ro say that the decision was made not only due to financial reasons, but because the son of the PAOK club owner, Georgis Stavridis, 25, wants to get involved in the team. Razvan Lucescu said he does not agree with such intrusions and decided to leave. The information was delivered by former Romanian international Razvan Rat, former player for PAOK.

“He wants to control the team and he goes into issues he does not have knowledge about. He is 24 or 25, full of enthusiasm, but he is not a football specialist,” Rat said.

Romanian football coach Razvan Lucescu (photo-left) is the first coach in the history of PAOK Thessaloniki to win the event. Recently the football team won the championship after a 34-year break and the Cup of Greece after defeating AEK Athens 1-0.

“I can only say that I am happy. After winning the title, the Cup was always in one corner of my mind. It is a special evening for PAOK, for the fans. We’ve reached our targets,” Razvan Lucescu said at the time.

The Greek media reported that Lucescu had agreed with PAOK’s owner to extend the contract until June 30, 2021, with a double wage of about EUR 800,000 per year.

In the past two years, Razvan Lucescu has won two Cups of Greece, both of them won against AEK Athens.