ISTANBUL (A.A) - 13.05.2002 - Turkish Superleague soccer club Besiktas signed on Monday a two-year contract with Mircea Lucescu of Romania after he parted ways with champions Galatasaray.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Besiktas club's president Serdar Bilgili said a new era had just started at Besiktas, ''we have great targets next year, the 100th anniversary of foundation of our club. As the first step, we have signed Lucescu to create the champions Besiktas next year.''
Meanwhile, Lucescu said he was very happy to sign Besiktas, adding that he preferred to stay in Turkey although he had received many offers from Europe.
Lucescu was shunted out of Galatasaray, despite two successful seasons in Europe and a domestic league title, to allow local hero Fatih Terim to return to the side he coached to win the UEFA Cup in 2000.
Besiktas finished a distant third to Galatasaray in the Superleague last season and will be playing in the UEFA Cup next season.
Besiktas officials said Lucescu has the authority to rebuild the team assembled by departing German coach Christoph Daum last season.