Valencia turn to Mauricio Pellegrino

Mauricio Pellegrino has been appointed Valencia coach on a two-year contract from next season. The 40-year-old former Los Che defender will succeed Unai Emery, who is leaving when his contract expires at the end of the campaign after four years in charge. Club president Manuel Llorente told valenciacf.es: "The board have signed and ratified the agreement reached this past Friday with Mauricio Pellegrini, who will be the first-team manager for the next two seasons." Emery's side secured third place in the Primera Division - for the third straight term - and an automatic UEFA Champions League spot on Saturday with a 1-0 home win over Villarreal. They reached the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey and UEFA Europa League this season but were dumped out by Barcelona and Atletico Madrid respectively. Argentinian Pellegrino, who won two La Liga titles in his six years with Valencia as a player from 1999 to 2005, has previously held the role of assistant coach under Rafael Benitez at Liverpool and Inter Milan.