Gala reach agreement in principle with Denizli

Galatasaray have reached an agreement in principle with Mustafa Denizli to become their new coach.

The Turkish Super Lig club parted company with Hamza Hamzaoglu last week, despite him leading Gala to a domestic double in the previous campaign.

Claudio Taffarel will be in interim charge for the Champions League game with Atletico Madrid on Wednesday but Gala have now turned to Denizli, who is set for a third spell in charge of the Istanbul outfit.

Denizli first coached Gala from 1987 to 1989, winning the Super Lig in 1988 and leading the team to the semi-finals of the European Cup, where they lost to Steaua Bucharest over two legs, a season later.

He went back to Gala after a brief stint in with Alemannia Aachen and won the Turkish Cup in 1991 before leaving again in 1992.

A spell with Kocaelispor followed prior to four years in charge of Turkey in which the national team reached the last eight of Euro 2000.

Since then, Denizli has coached a number of clubs across Turkey and also enjoyed spells in Iran and Azerbaijan, winning the league with Fenerbahce and Besiktas.

And he will now hope for further success with Gala, who trail Super Lig leaders Besiktas by seven points.