Al Nasr a top Dubai club have confirmed they’ve reached a “tentative agreement” with Ivan Jovanovic for him to succeed Walter Zenga at Al Maktoum Stadium next season.
The Blue Wave had been linked with a host of big-name appointments in recent weeks, with ex-Brazil boss Mario Menezes, Dynamo Moscow’s Dan Petrescu and former Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster all seemingly in the frame.
However, it now appears they’ve opted for the comparatively unknown Serbian instead, with an official announcement expected within “48 hours” of Saturday night’s tweet on Nasr’s Twitter feed.
Jovanovic, 50, began his playing career in his native country with FK Loznica and Rad Beograd before moving to Greece and Iraklis Thessaloniki.
There, he duly became a club legend by making 271 appearances and scoring 52 goals over a 10-year period prior to hanging up his boots.
His managerial career then got off to an inauspicious start, with short-lived stints at Niki Volou, Iraklis Thessaloniki, Panahaiki and Iraklis (once more) sandwiching a two-year stay at APOEL in Nicosia, Cyprus.
His second spell in charge of the Cypriot outfit though between 2008 and 2013 brought more acclaim and success.
Having won the Cypriot First Division crown and the Super Cup back in 2004, Jovanovic guided APOEL to three more top-flight titles (2009, 2011 and 2013), one Cypriot Cup (2008) and three further Super Cups (2008, 2009 and 2011).
His greatest achievement nonetheless came in the UEFA Champions League, having helped APOEL qualify twice in three years and reach the quarter-finals in the 2011-12 season, when they were knocked out by Spanish giants Real Madrid.
The Cypriot Football Association named Jovanovic their ‘Coach of the Season’ six times during his seven-year association with APOEL.
The Football Association of Serbia also awarded him with the ‘Serbian Coach of the Year’ accolade in 2011 before he resigned from the APOEL post this summer.