Tolunay Kafkas is the new coach of Turkish Super League outfit Trabzonspor AŞ, signing a three-and-a-half-year contract to replace Şenol Güneş, who stepped down on Sunday.

The 44-year-old Kafkas had been working for the Turkish Football Association (TFF) as head of football development and Under-21 national team coach since October 2011. "Starting a new job at Trabzonspor, a club which I gave everything for, is a big responsibility and one of the most significant steps that I have taken in my life," he said.

Former defender Kafkas played around 200 competitive games for the Black Sea side from 1993-97 before switching to Galatasaray AŞ. He later played in Austria for SV Pasching, LASK Linz and FC Admira Wacker Mödling before retiring in 2005. As a coach, he led Kayserispor to Turkish Cup glory in 2007/08 and later worked at Gaziantepspor before taking up his role with the TFF.