Henk ten Cate is set to remain at Al Jazira next season following a successful five-month stint with the club.
The Dutchman, appointed in late December as replacement for Abel Braga, is understood to have accepted terms on what is believed to be a one-year deal less than 24 hours after Sunday's President's Cup success against Al Ain. The Jazira board will meet this weekend to confirm their decision.
The penalty shootout win represented a fine conclusion to the campaign for both Jazira and Ten Cate, in which the former Ajax manager had taken the club from 11th in the Arabian Gulf League to eventually finish seventh. In 24 matches in charge in all competitions, Ten Cate guided Jazira to 12 victories.
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The final win against Al Ain, sealing the club’s first trophy in four years, is thought to have helped convince the Jazira board that Ten Cate, 61, deserved a permanent contract. He will lead the club’s fight on four fronts next season, where Jazira will be expected to at least challenge for the league title and qualify from the group stages of the 2017 Asian Champions League.
To do so, Jazira will be heavily active in the transfer market this summer as they seek to bolster the squad with talented local players and remodel their foreign contingent. Neither Kenwyne Jones nor Angel Lafita will be retained, with decisions to be made regarding Thiago Neves, Park Jong-woo, Mirko Vucinic and Jefferson Farfan.
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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