NYCFC announces Ronny Deila as new head coach

NYCFC has found its next head coach.

After parting ways with Domenec Torrent in November, the club announced in a press release Monday that former Celtic FC manager Ronny Deila has been appointed as its new man in charge. The Norwegian joins the MLS club from Valerenga, where he had managed in his home country since 2017, on a three-year contract pending the approval of a US work permit.

“When the opportunity came up to join New York City FC as their new Head Coach, it was a dream come true for me to manage an amazing Club in a great city,” Deila told the team’s official website.

“When I come in, it’s important to continue to build on what’s already proven to be a strong foundation and to get some of my ideas across. The way I want to play and the way NYCFC has played is very similar. I’m a very attacking coach. We want to have the ball as much as possible, but also try to be direct when you have those opportunities.”

Deila has won three league championships as a head coach, leading Celtic to two and also guiding Norwegian club Strømsgodset — formerly an affiliate club of City Football Group sibling Manchester City — to one in 2013. He is the fourth head coach in the club’s history and the third successive European to be named to the job.

“Knowing we had a very strong group of players returning in 2020, we wanted to recruit an experienced manager who played in a similar style as we have done in the past few years, with a proven ability to win league titles and develop players,” NYCFC Sporting Director David Lee said.

“We’re really happy with the group of players we have coming back and excited about the prospect of what this group can do, so we wanted to make sure we found the right Head Coach. We know we have a fantastic team that we believe is ready to win. Ronny is a winner. He won at Strømsgodset. He won at Celtic. We want to lift trophies and Ronny has done that in his career.”

NYCFC returns the majority of a team that earned the most points in franchise history and finished atop the Eastern Conference last season. After earning a first-round bye in the playoffs, New York lost 2-1 to Toronto FC in the conference semifinals.

The team’s preseason begins on Jan. 11.