Chinese Super League champion Shanghai Port officially announced the departure of head coach Xavier, firing the first shot of personnel changes in the new season of the Chinese Super League. Javier's contract with Harbour expires normally, and the two sides will not renew it, and Harbour itself wants to let the Spaniard go out of class, so there is no need to lose a penny this time. Xavier's dismissal is reasonable, after all, Harbor lost points in a row at the end of the league, and was almost reversed by the Taishan team to lose the championship, the AFC Champions League was eliminated by a team with 0 points in the main game, and even failed to enter the main game, and the FA Cup was also stopped in the top 8, it can only be said that Xavier's results are not ideal.
The selection of the new coach of the harbor was also carried out relatively early, and the Yokohama Mariners coach Muscat entered the list of the harbor coach with his excellent results this season, and now the contract has basically been negotiated, only the official announcement is needed. The Harbour has informed the players of the date of the training camp, and the players are also waiting for the arrival of the new head coach. If Muscat takes office, he will reshuffle the team's foreign aid lineup, Oscar is the main force that cannot be beaten, and the position of vice president may not be moved by Muscato, Caron, Vargas, and Joao are all likely to change.
Muscato's annual salary has previously been revealed by Japanese media, and the harbor offered 500 million yen equivalent to 3.5 million US dollars, which is why Muscat refused the invitation of other teams and did not come to the harbor. However, the domestic media gave different figures, and the annual salary of the Muscat team is not $3.5 million, but less than $2 million, which is not expensive, and even lower than Xavier's annual salary of 2 million euros. Of course, in terms of coaching resume, Muscat does not have as much experience as Xavier, who has also coached La Liga, while Muscat has only coached the Australian Super League, Belgian League, and J-League, which are not mainstream.
In addition, Harbour did not offer the Australian a long-term contract, only a "1+1" contract, which will automatically trigger a second year if certain conditions are met in the first season. This is also a common practice of Chinese Super League teams in recent years, due to financial pressure, there is no way to give a large long-term contract. Muscat led Melbourne Victory in the 2015 and 2017 seasons, playing Harbour four times, and the Harbour was quite staffed at the time, with Muscat leading the team to a 2-2 record, which is quite good. This season, he led the Yokohama Mariners to defeat Shandong Taishan twice.
Muscat has a close relationship with current Premier League Tottenham boss Postecoglou, and the two Australian coaches worked together during the Melbourne Victory period, when Tottenham Hotspur was the team's manager, Muscat was his deputy, Postecoglou left for Yokohama Mariners, and Muscat became Melbourne Victory manager. His style of coaching is heavily influenced by Postecoglou's use of high pressing and fast advancement, and he is also expected to turn Harbour into the Tottenham side of the Chinese Super League.