Hernan Crespo will take over at Al Ain

The club from the United Arab Emirates is looking to appoint Argentine Hernan Crespo as head coach, according to journalist César Luis Merlo.

According to sources, the club and the coach have reached a verbal agreement. The specialist had an offer from the Argentine Racing, but he refused to lead the team from his home country. Earlier, Al Ain terminated the contract with former head coach Alfred Schroeder.

The UAE team won all four matches in the Asian Champions League group stage and secured first place ahead of schedule. In the league, the team is third with 15 points after seven matches, Al Ain is two points behind the leaders.

The first club Crespo coached was Modena, which played in Serie B. The contract was signed for one year with an option to extend for two more. On 26 March 2016, he was dismissed due to the team's unsatisfactory results. In addition, the Argentine coached the junior team of Parma, Banfield, Defensa e Justicia and São Paulo. The 48-year-old's last job was with Qatar's Al Duhail.