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What's the story?
Fran Perez, a former coach at the Delhi Dynamos academy, is all set to make his return to the capital city, this time, as a member of manager Josep Gambau’s backroom staff.
In fact, Perez will take over as the assistant manager at the Lions' camp in the upcoming ISL season.
In case you didn’t know……
While this is his first stint with the senior side of Delhi Dynamos, Perez has experience at the club, having worked with their junior players. The Spaniard has previously held coaching roles at top clubs like New York City FC, MK Dons and also the Aspire Academy in Qatar.
The heart of the matter
Delhi Dynamos unveiled Josep Gambau as their head coach earlier this month, after a truly disappointing season under former coach Miguel Angel Portugal, wherein they failed to qualify for the Indian Super League semifinals.
Perez, who played as a central defender during his days, amassed over 230 appearances in his senior career. He started his playing career with Escobedo before moving onto the likes of Lemona, Barakaldo, Lugo, Cadiz and finally UCAM Murcia.
Josep Gambau, on the other hand has plenty of managerial experience under his hat, having coached the likes of Kitchee SC, Adelaide United and Western Sydney Wanderers. Prior to that, he had also managed the youth teams of La Liga giants FC Barcelona and Espanyol.
Quite naturally, Gambau would have wanted someone who has been a part of the Indian football scene for some time now to be a part of his backroom staff. And the fact that Perez is also a Spaniard is just the icing on the cake.
What's next?
The expectations will be really high from the Delhi Dynamos side in the upcoming season after they suffered a dismal one wherein they managed to win only 5 of their 18 matches. It will be interesting to see how the Lions fare under their new manager.
