CITY CONFIRM BACKE APPOINTMENT

Manchester City have confirmed the appointment of Hans Backe as Sven-Goran Eriksson's assistant.

The 55-year-old Swede has managed in both his home country and in Denmark, where he guided FC Copenhagen to three Danish titles.

Eriksson also made his second player signing today, with promising Swiss midfielder Gelson Fernandes moving to Eastlands from FC Sion for an undisclosed fee.

Backe was also manager at Panathinaikos and he will make a swift return to his homeland when he joins the City squad on the two-match pre-season tour of Sweden, which starts tomorrow.

Former England boss Eriksson said: "I've known Hans for a very long time, and I offered him this job but because he has been a manager I didn't know if he would accept.

"He's won three titles with FC Copenhagen, managed in Austria and Turkey, but he accepted the offer and I'm very happy. He has a lot of experience, he knows a lot of players from around the world and he's a very good coach."

City's coaching staff has also been bolstered by the arrival of Tord Grip, who was part of the England set-up when Eriksson managed the national side.

Eriksson, who takes a City XI to Doncaster for a pre-season friendly, told www.mcfc.co.uk: "Tord will link between the seniors, youth, the Academy, scouting, he'll be my right hand man - a little bit of everything!"

Fernandes follows in the footsteps of striker Rolando Bianchi, an £8.8million buy from Regina. He made 32 starts for Sion last season and he is captain of Switzerland's Under-21 side.

Bianchi and Fernandes will both fly out to Sweden with the squad on Sunday for the club's pre-season tour.

Taken from =football365=