Maccabi Haifa named their new coach as Diego Flores was appointed to the prestigious position. The 44-year old Argentine signed a contract for the upcoming 2025/26 season with an option for the following campaign.

“I am very, very happy,” Flores told the club’s official website. “This is a big challenge for me and I am happy to sign for such a big club and be part of the Maccabi Haifa Football Club family.”

Flores served as fellow Argentine Head Coach Marcelo Bielsa’s assistant coach at Marseille and Lille and for three years at Leeds United (where he won the Championship). In all six of those years, Flores was Bielsa’s assistant, who is currently in charge of the Uruguay national team and formerly of the Argentina national team. Flores then returned to Argentina as a head coach for two seasons at Godoy Cruz, one year at San Martin and last season he was at Gimnasia La Plata.

Maccabi Haifa’s chief scout, Lior Refaelov spoke about the club’s new bench boss, “I’m very happy that Diego Flores is joining us. We’ve had many conversations with Diego over the course of the last two weeks and it was important for us to recognize his motivation and work ethic and the desire to maximize each and every one’s potential in the system. I’m sure that Diego is coming here ready after six years of working together with Bielsa and another four years as head coach in Argentina. Diego is the right profile to lead the new project at Maccabi Haifa. I wish Diego a lot of success and welcome him to the green family.”