MADRID, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- La Liga struggler Cadiz has named Mauricio Pellegrino as its new first team coach to replace the sacked Sergio Gonzalez.
The Argentinean joins the club on a contract until the end of the season with the option to extend it for another year if he helps them avoid relegation.
Pellegrino joins Cadiz with the club third from bottom of La Liga after going 17 games without a win - a run which cost Gonzalez his job on Saturday after a 1-0 defeat away to Alaves.
The decision sees Pellegrino return to Spain, where he had a successful playing career, which saw him represent Valencia, FC Barcelona and Alaves, as well as Liverpool in the Premier League.
He has also coached in Spain with varying success, spending just 21 games as Valencia coach in the 2012-13 campaign and a year with Alaves in 2016-17.
After Alaves, he had a disappointing spell with Southampton, before returning to Spain to coach Leganes, who he helped avoid relegation in his first season, only to be sacked after seven defeats in the first nine matches of the following campaign.
The 52-year-old's last two jobs have been back in Latin America, with Velez Sarsfield and Universidad de Chile, who he left at the end of December. ■
