Yesterday afternoon, Chinese Super League powerhouse Henan Songshan Dragons suddenly announced that they had reached a contract termination agreement with manager Javier Pereira, and that the remaining matches of the season would be directed by youth team manager Anthony O. Gomez. Javier was originally quarantined in Shanghai for entry prevention, but due to the coaching offer from La Liga team Levante, Henan and Javier finally chose to part ways peacefully.
:: Rapid response
Chinese Super League clubs hit another La Liga dig
The day before yesterday, Spanish newspaper Marca broke the news that Javier Pereira was discussing the termination of his contract with Henan, and despite being in isolation in Shanghai, Levante's invitation moved Javier to return to Spain to coach.
Levante is having a poor season, with 4 draws and 4 losses without a win in the first 8 rounds, especially the recent 3 consecutive losses, which made the team drop to 18th place, only 3 points more than the bottom Getafe. After the 8th round, Levante dismissed Paco Lopez and Javier became the new head coach of the team. In fact, Javier knows Levante like the back of his hand, having helped them reach the UEFA Cup for the first time in the 2012/2013 season as Juan Martinez's assistant coach, reaching the round of 16.
Last September, Javier joined Henan and led the team to a 9th place finish. This season, Henan was once expected to enter the championship group, although the final failure, but the team's performance is noteworthy, relegation situation is also bright. Previously, Javier had ended his vacation and returned to Shanghai for isolation. However, just during the quarantine period, Levante extended the olive branch, and Javier also made the decision to return to coaching.
As a "firefighter", Javier signed a contract with Levante until the end of the 2021/2022 season, with a one-year extension if they manage to survive relegation. It is worth mentioning that, coupled with the Shenzhen team boss in May this year, small Cruyff was Barcelona poached, which has been the second time this season, the Chinese Super League encountered the Western League team's poaching.
:: Separation during quarantine
Javier: regrets not being able to say goodbye in person
The management of Henan team expressed satisfaction with the coaching of Javier. In the departure announcement, Henan said that the club made the decision to terminate the contract after fully considering Mr. Javier's personal wishes and expressed its blessing to Javier.
Meanwhile, Javier, who is in isolation, also expressed his gratitude to Henan and the Henan team through social media and made it clear that leaving Henan was his own personal behavior and not a conflict with the Henan team. Javier wrote: "I made a personal decision to leave my head coaching position at Henan Songshan Longmen, and although they insisted on extending my contract, they still respected my final decision."
As the decision to leave was made during the quarantine, Javier will return to Spain directly after the end of the quarantine, without having to travel to Zhengzhou to say goodbye to the team. In this regard, Javier said he was very sorry that he could not personally say goodbye to everyone. "I want to thank the players, staff and fans, I regret that I can not say goodbye to everyone at home, I hope you can understand the reasons behind my decision," Javier said, "Henan team has become an important part of my career, I sincerely hope that this is only a temporary parting. We will meet again on the road ahead."
Immediately after Javier's departure, Henan appointed U21 boss Anthony O. Gomez to take over as head coach. Gomez will lead the team in the AFC Cup and the second phase of the Chinese Super League over the next three months.
