Coach Laudrup confirms Lekhwiya departure
Former Barcelona player has left Lekhwiya after the end of his one-year coaching contract.
Doha, Qatar – Former Swansea coach and Denmark international Michael Laudrup has confirmed his departure from Qatar champions Lekhwiya after the end of his one-year contract.
Laudrup joined Lekhwiya last year, five months after he was sacked by the English Premier League club Swansea who he won the League Cup with in the previous season.
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Lekhwiya won their fourth title in five years this season with a game to spare following which the Dane confirmed he will not be extending his stay in Qatar.
Laudrup’s clubs |
Player
KB
Brondby
Lazio
Juventus
Barcelona
Real Madrid
Vissel Kobe
Ajax
Denmark
Manager
Denmark (assistant mgr)
Brondby
Getafe
Spartak Moscow
Mallorca
Swansea City
Lekhwiya
|
“I will not stay with Lekhwiya next season,” Laudrup told Al Jazeera.
“I am happy for the incredible season we had winning the league, the Qatar Cup and reaching the quarter-finals of the Asian Champions League.
“Personally, I won coach of the year award in Qatar.”
At the time of his appointment, the former Barcelona and Real Madrid player was happy with the short-term contract as he sought to gain a ‘new experience’ in Doha.
“This will be the eighth country I’ll be living in and it’s a new experience for me,” Laudrup had said at his unveiling press conference.
“I’ve been part of the two best leagues in the world [La Liga and EPL] and I’m not going to be a manager for another 10-20 years. So I thought to myself why not try a new experience, something different.
“The club offered me a longer contract but I opted for one year. If, after the year, I’m happy and the club is happy then we continue. If not then we shake hands and it would’ve been an experience for me. That’s how I see it.”
Laudrup is still unsure about his future.
He has been tipped to take over as Barcelona’s sporting director if Jordi Majo succeeds in winning the club’s presidential elections next month.
“What I will do next depends on the elections at FC Barcelona,” Laudrup, who played for Barcelona from 1989 to 1994, added.
Laudrup had previously been linked with taking over as the club’s first-team coach as well but Majo is keen on taking on the Dane as the sporting director.
“Laudrup is intelligent, he has experience, the right age and he knows the Barca culture,” Majo was reported to have said earlier this year.