DONETSK AGREE DEAL

The Russian club Shakhtar Donetsk have said that they have agreed a new contract extension with their manager Mircea Lucescu. It is understood that Lucescu has extended his contract by two more years with the Russian club. He has been at the club since 2004, and he has transformed the club during this period. In a league that had been dominated by state-backed clubs, Shakhtar Donetsk have been one of the few private owner backed clubs to have emerged successful in the last few seasons. The team are currently top of the Russian league. During the regime of Lucescu, the team has managed to win six league titles.

This is in addition to the UEFA cup title that they managed to lift in 2009. Lucescu’s position at the club came under intense speculation over the last few weeks due to the knowledge that his contract was due to end this season. The 67-year-old had been linked with several clubs across Europe like Inter Milan. However, Shakhtar have managed to extend his contract to keep him at the club for up to 2 more years. The club president, Rinat Akhmetov, has said that he is extremely delighted because it was important to keep Lucescu at the club.

He has said that money was not an issue when it came to keeping Lucescu at the club. “When we talked about a contract, the issue of money was not an issue because it’s not important for me nor for Mr Lucescu. I was interested in only one major thing: whether this team has reached the maximum, or it can take a step forward? Mister told me simply: “I love our fans. I love our players. I believe in my assistants,” said the president on the official website of the club, who lead the table by 15 points.