Former Liverpool and Spain international winger, Albert Riera, has been appointed by Ligue 2 side Girondins de Bordeaux to be their new head coach.
It has been reported that the fallen French giants have agreed to pay a compensation package in the region of 600,000 euros (£517,600) to Slovenian Prva Liga side, Celje, where Riera had been coaching since the summer.
Riera, who scored four goals in 16 caps for the Spanish national side, began his playing career with Real Mallorca, on the island where he was born. He had two seasons with Bordeaux before also playing for Espanyol, Manchester City, Liverpool, Olympiacos, Galatasaray, Watford, Udinese, going back to Real Mallorca before finishing his career in Slovenia with Zavrc and Koper.
He began his coaching career with Super Lig side Galatasaray as assistant to Domenec Torrent, who was Pep Guardiola’s assistant coach at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City.
His first job as a manager came back in Slovenia when he took charge of Olimpija Ljubljana in unhelpful circumstances with very unhappy supporters and ensuing protests, following the sacking of Robert Prosinecki and general running of the club. Despite that, he led Olimpija into the group stages of the UEFA Europa Conference League and also won them their third ever Slovenian title and first in five years.
He departed Olimpija for runners’ up from last season, Celje. Celje pulled off an impressive two-legged defeat of Portuguese Primeira Liga side Vitoria in UEFA Europa Conference League qualification but they failed to qualify for the group stages of that competition. They do, however, sit at the top-of-the-table in Slovenia with just one defeat in their opening 11 matches.
Bordeaux were relegated from France’s top-flight in 2022 and nearly sent down a further division due to financial issues but were given a late reprieve that summer. They narrowly avoided automatic promotion back to Ligue 1 on the final day of last season but missed out to Metz in controversial circumstances.
They currently languish in the bottom-half of the Ligue 2 table with just three victories in their opening ten matches. Riera’s first game in charge will be away to Angers who are challenging for promotion after being relegated last season.
