Turkey's Galatasaray appoints Rijkaard as coach

The former Barcelona coach will replace Bulent Korkmaz as technical director, the Istanbul club said in the statement.Â

The 47-year-old former Dutch international and Barcelona coach is expected to arrive in Istanbul at 5:30 p.m. (1430 GMT) to sign a two-year deal with Galatasaray at the club's training ground. 

Former Galatasaray captain Korkmaz had been appointed coach in February in place of Michael Skibbe, who was sacked after a poor run of results. Korkmaz had a contract until the end of the 2009-2010 season.

Galatasaray, UEFA Cup champions in 2000 and 17 times domestic champions, had a disappointing season and finished fifth in the league, ten points adrift of champions Besiktas.

 

Rijkaard had previously been mentioned as a possible candidate to take over at various clubs including AC Milan and CSKA Moscow.

 

Rijkaard, who won two Spanish crowns (2005, 2006) and the European Champions League in 2006 with Barcelona, has been without a club since leaving the Catalan club at the end of the 2008 season after five years at the helm.

 

He enjoyed a sparkling career as a player, representing Ajax, Real Zaragoza and Milan, and winning 73 caps for the Netherlands, scoring 10 goals.