It hasn’t been the simplest of processes but Racing Club have finally settled on their choice of coach to replace title winner Diego Cocca after an agreement was reached with Quilmes to take former player Facundo Sava to the Cilindro.

Racing vice-president Miguel Jiménez announced today that Sava will sign an 18-month contract and be presented in the coming days as La Academia’s new manager. After an incredibly successful few months in charge of Quilmes, Sava had become a wanted man and with six months still to run on his deal with Los Cerveceros, Racing have agreed to pay 2.3 million pesos in order to end their managerial search.

El club llegó a un acuerdo con Facundo Sava para que sea el nuevo entrenador: firmará un contrato por 18 meses. pic.twitter.com/GGzaH3Y3Ad

— Racing Club (@RacingClub) December 16, 2015

Racing will return to training on January 4th but Sava’s work will no doubt begin before that as he assesses his squad ahead of a Copa Libertadores campaign in 2016.

Former Lanús manager Guillermo Barros Schelotto held extensive talks with Racing over the vacant position following Diego Cocca’s decision to step down at the end of the season but no deal was agreed and instead Racing turned to the familiar figure of Sava.

Sava played for the club between 2006 and 2008 after stints in England and Spain with Fulham and Celta Vigo respectively and turned to coaching almost immediately after his retirement when playing for Ferro Carril Oeste in 2010.

Sava’s managerial career had not pulled up any trees and after brief stints with San Martín, Unión and O’Higgins, the 41-year-old arrived at Quilmes with a lot to prove. Los Cerveceros didn’t appear to be the best option to change opinion after winning just four from their opening seventeen Primera fixtures in 2015.

However, the transformation under Sava was startling. A debut victory over Racing led to a run of eight wins from the next ten matches without defeat as Quilmes rocketed up the table. His short spell in charge yielded a win ratio of 64% and got the very best out of players like Claudio Bieler and Rodrigo Gómez. If Sava can have anywhere near the same effect on what is without question a superior squad of players then Racing will be a real threat.