Koeman leaves PSV for Valencia

Ronald Koeman has been appointed coach of Valencia CF after resigning from PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday night.

Terms agreed
The 44-year-old has agreed a contract until summer 2010 after a deal was negotiated between the two clubs for his move along with assistant Tonny Bruins Slot, and will be officially unveiled in Spain on Friday. The 78-times capped former Netherlands captain had been committed to PSV until the end of the season. Quique Sánchez Flores was dismissed by Valencia on Monday following back-to-back UEFA Champions League and Primera División defeats.

'Opportunity knocks'
"In life you get opportunities, and I grab them, that is how I am," Koeman told a news conference at the PSV Stadium on Wednesday. "The fact is that the world of football is like that. And I am someone who goes for it." Jan Wouters will replace Koeman as caretaker PSV coach with youth chief Anton Janssen promoted to the senior staff.

Playing days
The erstwhile defender started his career at FC Groningen, transferring to AFC Ajax in 1983 and then to PSV in 1986. He joined FC Barcelona for a golden period between 1989 and 1995 in which his side won the 1992 European Champion Clubs' Cup and four successive Spanish titles, before finishing his playing days with a two-year spell at Feyenoord.

Coaching apprenticeship
Koeman moved into coaching as an assistant, first with the Netherlands and next with Barcelona, before taking sole command of BV Vitesse in 2000. He switched to Ajax the following season. Four campaigns in Amsterdam preceded a solitary one with SL Benfica before he was installed at PSV in 2006, ending a turbulent season with a title success. There was more championship glory last term, the Eindhoven club's third in a row.

Eighth departure
Koeman is the eighth coach to part company with a UEFA Champions League contender since the beginning of the group stage, following the departures of Albert Emon at Olympique de Marseille, Chelsea FC's José Mourinho, Gheorghe Hagi from FC Steaua Bucureşti, Anatoliy Demyanenko at FC Dynamo Kyiv, Sevilla FC's Juande Ramos, Rosenborg BK's Knut Tørum and Valencia's Sánchez Flores. The Mestalla outfit host Trond Henriksen's Rosenborg on 6 November with both teams having changed coach in the fortnight since their first encounter. PSV go to Fenerbahçe SK the next day.