20:40h CEST

Former Chelsea midfielder Dan Petrescu has been appointed head coach of Chinese Super League (CSL) side Guizhou Hengfeng.

The 50-year-old former Romanian international replaces the Spaniard Gregorio Manzano, who leaves the team after a poor start this season, achieving only one win from 11 games.

Currently Guizhou is on the last place in the CSL table.

Last season, Petrescu led CFR Cluj to the Romanian league title in his first season in charge.

His managerial career also includes spells in Poland, Russia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, along with a brief stint at China’s Jiangsu Suning in the 2015-16 season.

Between 1989 and 2000, he was capped 95 times by the Romania national team.

Money move

According to Romanian media, Petrescu was offered a salary of 2.6 million euros per season by the Chinese club.

However, after arguing some contract terms, his wage increased considerably.

‘I made a lot of conditions, I did this because I was expecting them to give up, but they accepted. Tomorrow (on Thursday) I will say goodbye to the club (CFR Cluj) and thank the people there for everything we managed to do together,’ said the former Chelsea star.

If Petrescu is able to rescue Guizhou from relegation, he will receive bonuses of around 15 million euros.

Reportedly, his new salary is ‘close’ to Jose Mourinho’s – who is said to be the best-paid coach in football – at Manchester United.