RONNY DEILA has been named as Standard Liege boss.
The former Celtic manager left his post at MLS club New York City FC to return to Europe.
Deila had enjoyed successful two-and-a-half years Stateside as he won the club's first MLS Cup.
But he decided to return to Europe to join Belgian side Standard Liege in a mid-season switch from America.
Also joining Deila will be his assistant and former Celtic player Efrain Juarez.
On his exit from NYCFC, Deila commented: “This was certainly not an easy decision for me and my family. However, I feel this is the right time to take on this new challenge and return to Europe.
“I would like to thank New York City Football Club and City Football Group. This is an incredible organization with extremely talented players, an amazing Sporting department and fantastic leadership across the Club including Ferran Soriano, Marty Edelman, David Lee and Brad Sims.
"Thank you to the fans, the passion you have for the Club has fueled us on the field, and we couldn’t have accomplished what we did last season without you."
And after sealing the move to Standard Liege, Deila said: "At this point in my career, I was really charmed by Standard de Liège's proposal to return to a historic and warm club in Europe that is looking for innovation. It was an adventure that I absolutely wanted to take on.
"The project to make the fans proud again and step by step to make Standard one of the biggest clubs in Belgium, regularly participating in European competitions, immediately appealed to me and it was clear to me that I wanted to come here.
"I want to get a new dynamics, regularity and a winning mentality in the team so that we can reconnect with success and I look forward to starting this great challenge from today."
