Former Rangers striker Shota Arveladze is set to take over the management reins at Hull City following a £30m Turkish-led takeover.
According to the Daily Mail, the former Georgian international striker, 48, is set to take over from Grant McCann at the KC Stadium despite a recent upturn in form.
McCann engineered back-to-back wins over Championship front-runners Blackburn City and Bournemouth but it won’t be enough to salvage his position at the club.
Ex-Rangers striker Shota Arveladze is currently out of working after leaving Uzbek side Pakhtakor Tashkent on a high in 2020.
The Tbilisi-born boss guided Tashkent to an impressive treble in 2019 before securing the double a year later and left having lifted five trophies with the club.
Trophies are something Shota Arveladze was very familiar with as a player having lifted numerous prizes with Dinamo Tbilisi, Trabzonspor, Ajax and Rangers in his career.
At Ibrox the ex-Gers striker won five trophies; two SPL titles, two Scottish Cups and a League Cup.
After retiring in 2008, Shota worked as assistant manager at AZ under Louis van Gaal, Ronald Koeman and Dick Advocaat, before going on to manage Kayserispor, Kasimpasa and Trabzonspor in Turkey and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel.
Ex-Rangers striker Shota Arveladze to take over at Hull City after Turkish buyout
If the appointment – driven by new Hull City owner and Turkish TV tycoon Acun Ilicali – goes through, then Arveladze will be taking over a Hull side 19th in the Championship, 10 points from the drop zone.
It’s an interesting move from the Turkish owners and let’s see how Shota Arveladze gets on as he returns to the UK in a footballing capacity for the first time since leaving Rangers.
The Georgian boss is set to get a major young Iranian talent as well, as Hull City reportedly prepare to bring Fenerbahce striker Allahyar Sayyadmanesh to the club.
Sayyadmanesh, now 20, was ranked by the Guardian as one of global football’s top young talents.
Acun Ilicali is a successful Turkish broadcaster and media company entrepreneur and the founder of production company Acun Medya.
Taking over from Egyptian-British industrial businessman Assem Allam, Ilicali described the deal as a dream come true.
“I am happy that I have fulfilled one of my biggest dreams today,” said Ilicali [Hull City].
“We are starting a beautiful journey with Hull City. We have many big dreams and goals to achieve together with our fans.
“I would like to thank the Allam family for the friendship and sincerity they have shown during this process. I genuinely believe that we will achieve success with the amazing fans of this beautiful city.”
Meanwhile, one high-profile reported Rangers target is “very close” to a move to a team of Champions League regulars.