A Spanish coach for Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s club

Martí Cifuentes change teams in Scandinavia. After a year at Aalborg, in the Danish First Division, the young coach of San Cugat del Vallés (39 years old) signed for the next three seasons with the Hammarby, a Swedish club 23.5% owned by Zlatan Ibrahimovic. “We have conducted a large number of interviews and taken many references on the candidates and we concluded that Martí is the right coach for us,” said Mattias Fri, president of the Stockholm-based club. “He has everything it takes to take our team to the next level,” added Jesper Jansson, sporting director of an entity that had to pay to take over Cifuentes’ services, with a contract until 2023 at Aalborg.

“I am very happy to have this opportunity. Hammarby has a strong team and I am looking forward to working with the players and the board. Also to experience the atmosphere created by the fans in home games,” said Martí Cifuentes, who is leaving Aalborg. because the offer from Sweden was irrefutable financially, personally and sportingly. “Just a few days ago I would not have imagined leaving the AaB, but I could not say no,” discovered the Spaniard, who led 40 games in Denmark with a balance of 17 wins, 10 draws and 13 losses. “We are looking for a coach with leadership and a clear philosophy of the game and we found him in Martí Cifuentes. He lived up to expectations, but we are forced to look for a new coach,” lamented Aalborg sports director André Olsen.

After directing in Norway, where he promoted and kept a modest Sandefjord in the elite, and playing a great role during the year he was in charge of Aalborg, Martí Cifuentes returns to Sweden, where he already served as coach of the AIK U-19 team . Four years after what was his first adventure abroad, Cifuentes returns as a coach contrasted in the elite. The Spanish will replace the Serbian Milos Milojevic on the bench of a club with more than 100 years of history that was proclaimed Cup champion last season and, as a reward, played the previous phase of the UEFA Conference League. “It motivates me to come to a club with the vision and objectives of Hammarby. I hope we win more titles,” warned a Martí Cifuentes who hopes to create something “very, very big” in Stockholm.