On Wednesday, Sheffield United announced the arrival of three members to Slavisa Jokanovic’s new staff.
One of the officials is Chema Sanz, who had been working at Spanish side Valencia for a few years and even managed the club’s B squad last season.
Following the announcement, the Spanish media had several stories about his departure, and VCFRadio had a chat with him about the move.
Sanz made it clear that he loved working at Valencia, but also showed his excitement over taking his first job in English football.
“I am happy at Valencia, but I am very excited about the new challenge. I’ve enjoyed these four years a lot, but the possibility of leaving for a new league arose, I transferred it to the club and they gave me all the facilities because I had a current contract,” he said (via El Desmarque).
“I leave many friends and I understand that there may be a third stage in the future. We have left our soul in the club and I consider it part of me. I’m sure that this stage will enrich me professionally and personally but I’m a Valencian and I hope that in the future there’s a third stage. All the people have been very good to me there.”
Regarding the invite from Jokanovic, he explained the long time friendship he has with the manager, and highlighted the ‘insistence’ of his request to join him at Sheffield United.
“I come to work with Slavisa Jokanovic, a coach I had as a player at Tenerife and he’s called me several times but it hadn’t happened until now and I really want to know the Championship or the Premier League if things go well for us. That the moments had to coincide, he’s insisted a lot and he called me already at the end of last season. I started to think about it and I understood that it was the moment.”
Following pre-season, Jokanovic and his staff will make their official debut with the Blades against Birmingham City in the Championship’s first fixture on August 7th.
