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After the resignation of Romanian Gheorghe Hagi from the position of head coach of the Istanbul club a few days ago, the club quickly found a new strategist - today it was officially appointed to the recently departed German Erik Gerets.
The former Belgian national team player and coach of "Liege", "Lierse", "Brugge" and "PSV" signed a one-year contract with the club and will try to perform as successfully as possible in the Turkish championship next season, where the Istanbul club this year took only third place, and in the UEFA Europa League tournament.
Leading the "Wolfsburg" team, Gerets managed to lift the former team on the brink of relegation to the middle of the standings in just 14 months. Moreover, in the first half of the season, his team even led the "Bundesliga" championship, but after the winter break, they fell into a deep hole and finished the tournament in 9th place.
However, Gerets will not have an easy task next season to restore the former glory of the club, as two former teammates of "Galatasaray" did not agree to extend their contracts - Hakan Unsul and Arif Erden.
The club also extended contracts with four players from the Turkish youth national team - Ugur Ucar, Mulayim Erdem, Arda Turan and Ozgurcan Ozcan. All these players have signed three-year contracts with the club. It is worth mentioning that forward Ozcan was one of the leaders of the Turkish U-17 national team, which won the European Champions title.
