Fenerbahçe announce Daum deal

Fenerbahçe SK will appoint German Christoph Daum as their new coach on Friday, the club announced on their official website today.

Contract to be signed
The 49-year-old coach, who has been in discussions in Germany with Fenerbahçe officials, is expected to arrive in Turkey on Thursday. Daum was once the Germany coach-elect but lost that opportunity and was fired by his club Bayer 04 Leverkusen three years ago after testing positive for cocaine. "An official contract with Mr Daum will be signed on Friday," said a statement on the Turkish club's website.

Austrian 'double'
Daum recently parted company with FK Austria Wien after guiding them to the Austrian league and cup double. However, his only public comments on the Fenerbahçe job so far indicated that the deal was far from sealed. "I've had talks with them [Fenerbahçe], but for me a thing is only perfect when the ink is dry - which it isn't," Daum said at his farewell news conference as coach of Austria on Monday.

No European football
Fenerbahçe finished sixth in the Turkish league this season - 34 points behind champions Besiktas JK - and had three different coaches during the course of the season. A 1-1 draw with relegated Göztepe on the last match of the season ended their last hopes of European qualification. Daum is familiar with Turkish football having had two spells as coach of Besiktas. He would be Fenerbahçe's tenth coach since 1998.