Preki has been named the new manager of St. Louis FC of the United Soccer League. AP Photo/Bill Kostroun

Former U.S. national team player Preki has been named the next coach of St. Louis FC in the United Soccer League, the club has announced.

Preki, 53, whose full name is Predrag Radosavljevic, will take over from interim manager Tim Leonard.

Leonard coached the last seven games of the club's season after previous boss Dale Schilly was fired in the middle of August during a flagging campaign.

Preki last coached USL side Sacramento Republic, leading them to a league title in 2014 before leaving the team in 2015 to manage in England.

However, Preki never secured a job in England -- rumoured to be the vacancy at Leicester City at the time -- making the St. Louis job his first since leaving the Republic.

The 2007 MLS coach of the year with Chivas USA will lead St. Louis into its third season starting in the spring of 2017. Preki also coached Toronto FC for 32 games from November 2009 until September 2010.

The club's general manager and vice president Jeremy Alumbaugh had high praise for what Preki can bring to the team and for where he can take it.

"Preki is someone that brings the passion, the determination and the commitment to creating an environment where players are pushed to realize their full potential," Alumbaugh said. "His track record of winning at both the MLS and USL levels make him the ideal person to lead Saint Louis FC, but also his ability to develop players during different points in their careers is something we were attracted to.

"If you look at the players he has helped bring along during his time at Chivas USA, Toronto and Sacramento, you see a history of making players better and helping them become true professionals."

Preki was born in Yugoslavia but played in the U.S. starting in 1985 as an indoor player, and after gaining U.S. citizenship represented the U.S. 28 times at the international level.

He played in England with Everton and Portsmouth in the mid-1990s before joining Major League Soccer when the American league began in 1996. He won the Golden Boot and was named league MVP in 1997 and 2003.

He scored the winning goal for the U.S. against Brazil in a 1998 Gold Cup semifinal and also played at the 1998 World Cup.