Within hours of announcing the departure of Alexandre Guimaraes, Mumbai City FC have come forward and introduced Jorge Costa as the new head coach, ahead of the 2018-19 season of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL).

The Portuguese international has a wealth of coaching experience, managing clubs across Europe such as SC Braga Pacos Ferreira, CFR Cluj, AEL Limassol and Anorthosis Famagusta. His last job was in the second division of French Football where he managed FC Tours.

The 46-year-old has proven his worth in the managerial hot seat, guiding CFR Cluj to a league title in the Romanian league after achieving success with SC Olhanense in the Portuguese second division. Costa also enjoyed a very successful playing career, most notably, captaining FC Porto under Jose Mourinho to a famous Champions League victory over Manchester United.

In a press release from Mumbai City, CEO Indranil Das Blah spoke of the exceptional qualities displayed by Costa, which led to his appointment. “We are thrilled to appoint Jorge Costa as the coach of Mumbai City FC for the 2018-19 season of the Hero Indian Super League. We’ve had several meetings with potential candidates, but Jorge's professionalism, hunger and philosophy stood out and convinced us that he is the perfect candidate to take this club forward to bigger success. We welcome Jorge to the Mumbai City family and look forward to exciting times ahead.”

On being appointed, Costa said that he was eagerly looking forward to working with his new squad. “I cannot wait to start, meet the players and have a fruitful pre-season. I believe that we have some of the finest Indian talents in our side and I’m excited at the prospect of working with them. I hope to bring entertaining football to the arena and to the people of Mumbai, and challenge for trophies, giving this city the success it deserves.”