Indian Super League franchise Hyderabad FC have announced the appointment of highly-experienced Spaniard Manuel ‘Manolo’ Márquez Roca as their new Head Coach. The 51-year-old Spaniard who previously worked at the helm in the Spanish La Liga and the Croatian top-flight has penned a one-year deal till the end of the 2020-21 season.

“It’s a big challenge for me to join Hyderabad FC as we are set to begin our season soon. The club has already been preparing and working on a lot of things over the last few months so that makes it a comparatively smoother process for me to settle in,” said Marquez after completing formalities.

Hyderabad FC co-owner Varun Tripuraneni said, “We’ve worked towards a unified goal over the last seven-eight months while building our team. It has been one of our top priorities to continue the good work that everyone has put in and we strongly believe that Manuel Márquez is the perfect choice to do that. He has the credentials, and more importantly the experience to fit into our club. He has consistently proven himself at various levels and we expect a seamless transition.”

Hyderabad FC had to sign a new head coach after Albert Roca left the club following the offer to return to FC Barcelona with Manolo Marquez Roca taking his place.

“Given that Hyderabad FC intends to follow the same philosophy which I’ve worked with over so many years, I believe there are common goals already present. Now it’s just about hitting the ground running and imparting those ideologies to the players,” added Márquez.

During his two-decade-long coaching career, Márquez has worked with the likes of PB Anguera, AE Prat, CE Europa, CF Badalona, RCD Espanyol B, UE Sant Andreu, and UD Las Palmas B in the Spanish league system. He took charge of La Liga side UD Las Palmas in 2017 before working with Croatian top-flight side NK Istra 1961 in 2018 and then Thai side Ratchaburi Mitr Phol FC, but left them due to personal reasons without coaching in an official game.