Maradona offered Al Wasl coaching role

Published May. 15, 2011 11:07 a.m. ET

foxsports

Dubai's Al Wasl club has made Diego Maradona an offer to be its next coach and talks are ongoing, the club said Sunday.

The 50-year-old Argentine great, who has been out of coaching since he led Argentina to the 2010 World Cup quarterfinals, visited the club's training facility Saturday. He did not speak to reporters at the club headquarters or when he went shopping at the Dubai Mall.

Ashraf Ahmad Mohammad, the club's chief executive officer, said he was ''happy'' with the negotiations thus far but expected it would take several more days for an agreement. The club had said it might have an announcement Sunday, but nothing was forthcoming.

Al Wasl is fourth in the domestic league and has been looking for a coach since firing Sergio Farias in March.

It would certainly get a colorful figure should the club sign the 1986 World Cup winner, but not someone with extensive managerial experience. Before taking the reins of Argentina in 2008, he had only coached Deportivo Mandiyu in 1994 and Racing Club in 1995, and in both cases left before his contract was up.

Under Maradona, Argentina's results were mixed and the team slumped to two of its worst ever losses - a 6-1 hammering by Bolivia in 2010 World Cup qualifying and a 4-0 quarterfinal defeat to Germany at the tournament.

Since losing the Argentina job last year, Maradona has been linked to several coaching vacancies, including Iran's national team and several English clubs including Blackburn and Fulham.