Ex-Manchester United player Jordi Cruyff named manager of Chinese side Chongqing Lifan

Jordi Cruyff has been named manager of Chinese Super League side Chongqing Lifan.

The former Manchester United player ended a successful six-year spell at Maccabi Tel-Aviv earlier this year, which included stints as sporting director and head coach.

The 44-year-old succeeds Paulo Bento, who lost his job with Chongqing Lifan last month.

And Cruyff said: "I feel that this is an exciting challenge for me after having been given a first-hand insight into the ambition and ideas at Chongqing Lifan from Antonio Cordon, to whom I'm extremely grateful for the faith he has shown in my work.

"I've been following the development of Chinese football from afar for some time now. There's a lot of talk about the star signings, but there's also a desire to build strong foundations to ensure that the game continues to grow in a sustainable way and that's something I've seen at Chongqing Lifan.

"I'll be giving my all to help the club develop its players by implementing a working methodology which is closely related to the way I understand the game."

Jordi has been hired by former Villarreal CF and AS Monaco director of football Antonio Cordon, who currently heads up the Hope Group holding company, which is presided over by Granada owner John Jiang.

Maccabi lifted three league titles and three domestic trophies during Cruyff's stay at the club, and qualified for the Europa League group stage on three occasions and the Champions League once.