Muscat signed a 2-year contract with an annual salary of 2 million, D-00000, A- 2 million yuan, AVan Taishan

On Sunday, Shanghai Harbour FC announced that Muscat will be the new first-team boss with a 1+1 contract. The former Yokohama Mariners coach has won the league title three times in his coaching career, and also beat Shandong Taishan home and away in the AFC Champions League group stage.

During his playing career, Muscat played for clubs such as Crystal Palace, Wolves and Glasgow Rangers. As a defender, Muscat is known for his ferocity, having received 123 yellow cards and 12 red cards in his career.

After retiring as a player, Muscat worked as an assistant coach for Postecoglou in Melbourne. After Postecoglou moved to Yokohama Mariner, Muscat took over as Melbourne manager, having previously managed Sint-Truiden in 2020-21. After Postecoglou moved to coach Celtic, Muscat followed suit and once again took over the reins of Yokohama Marino.

During his time in charge of Melbourne, Muscat won the Australian Super League twice in 2014-15 and 2017-18. After coaching Yokohama Marino, Muscat won the J-League title in 2021-22, the Super Cup in 2022-23 and runners-up in the league in the other two seasons. From August 2021 to September 2022, Muscat was voted J-League Coach of the Month four times.

Muscat signed with Yokohama Mariners on January 31, 2024, and confirmed that he would not make an appointment with Yokohama Water. Like Postecoglou, Muscat has won the hearts of a number of European teams, including his former club Glasgow Rangers, as well as Swansea, Millwall and Sunderland.

Despite the temptation of European teams, Japanese media revealed that Muscat finally chose Harbour because Harbour offered its coaching staff an annual salary of 3.2 million euros, while famous journalist Wang Xiaorui believed that Muscat's annual salary was less than 2 million. It is worth mentioning that in the group stage of the 2015 and 2017 AFC Champions League, Shanghai Port played against Melbourne coached by Muscat four times and achieved 2 wins and 2 losses.

Compared to the more conservative Javier, Muscat has been more aggressive, with Yokohama Mariners scoring 63 goals in this season's J-League, the most of any team. In the two legs of the AFC Champions League group stage against Shandong Taishan, Yokohama Mariner scored 4 goals and conceded 0 goals, and the trident composed of Elber, López and Mateus performed quite well, and the 3-0 victory over Taishan at home was also the last game for Muscat to coach Yokohama Mariner. Following Muscat's departure, the Yokohama Mariners opted for the legendary Colwill, who had previously served as an assistant coach for Postecoglou at the Celtics.

One of the reasons why Xavier was sacked was that he failed to activate the luxury foreign aid combination of players such as Oscar, Vargas and Joao. With Muscat taking over, Harbour are expected to burst into a more powerful attack in the new season.