Marcel Koller will officially take over as manager of Swiss club FC Zurich, marking his first foray into coaching since leaving Al Ahly last season.
Zurich immediately sacked their previous manager, Dennis Heidegger, due to poor results, appointing Carlos Behringer as interim manager until the end of the season. Koller will then become the new manager starting next June.
Koller is one of the most experienced and successful coaches in Swiss football, having won the league title with both FC St. Gallen and Grasshoppers, as well as the Swiss Cup with FC Basel.
After three years with Al Ahly, during which he achieved numerous successes, Koller returns to European football after rejecting several offers from Arab clubs in recent months.
Koller led Al Ahly to two CAF Champions League titles, two Egyptian Premier League titles, and a third-place finish at the 2013 FIFA Club World Cup. He also won the Egyptian Cup twice and the Egyptian Super Cup four times.
After Al Ahly’s elimination from the CAF Champions League semi-finals last season against Mamelodi Sundowns in Cairo, Mahmoud El Khatib’s administration decided to dismiss him.
Al Ahly continued to pay the 65-year-old coach’s salary as usual until now, which represented a significant burden on the club’s finances, as the Swiss coach was receiving $150,000 per month and refused to waive his dues, which extended until the end of the current season.
