Chelsea Says Avram Grant Signed Four-Year Contract as Coach
Avram Grant signed a four-year
contract as manager/first-team coach at Chelsea, the English
Premier League soccer team said on its Web site.
Grant, a 52-year-old Israeli, took over the team when Jose
Mourinho left the club in September after disagreements with
billionaire owner Roman Abramovich. He had joined the west
London team this year as director of football, following a spell
as technical director with Portsmouth.
Chelsea was fifth in the Premier League when Grant took
over. Helped by his new assistant Henk ten Cate who joined from
Ajax in October, he has taken the Blues to third in the Premier
League, three points behind leader Arsenal and two adrift of
Manchester United.
Chelsea two days ago drew 0-0 with Valencia in the last
group-phase game of the Champions League, topping its pool, and
now goes forward to the last 16 of Europe%26#39;s most prestigious
tournament.
Grant, a former coach of the Israeli national team, is a
friend of Abramovich. The Blues didn%26#39;t reveal financial details
of Grant%26#39;s contract in the announcement on their Web site.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Peter-Joseph Hegarty in London at
phegarty@bloomberg.net
Tags: ajax, avram grant, cate, champion, champions league, chelsea, europe, henk, manchester united, premier league, roman abramovich, team coach, ten cate