San Ġiljan ASC have handed the first-team reins to Croatian coach Emil Nikolic for the 2015 season, the club announced yesterday.

Nikolic has an excellent CV after winning several honours both in Croatia and at European level. He has coached a host of top European clubs, achieving notable success during his time with VK Jug Dubrovnik whom he guided to four successive national championships as well as European success.

Nikolic, who succeeds fellow countryman Sergio Afric, also had spells in charge of HAVK Mladost, RN Camogli (Italy), VK Medvescak and the Croatian junior national squad.

This week, Nikolic spent a few days in Malta to meet the San Ġiljan committee and squad as well as to prepare the team’s build-up and training programme for the winter together with assistant coach Aurelien Cousin.

Nikolic also had a cordial meeting with Malta head coach Karl Izzo who, for many years, was at the helm of San Ġiljan.

“Nikolic will return to Malta in February ahead of the start of the 2015 competitions,” San Ġiljan said in their statement.

Meanwhile, goalkeeper Dean Camilleri and Karl Galea are being strongly linked with a move to Valletta after they didn’t renew their contracts with San Ġiljan.

Neptunes are set to appoint Montenegrin Zoran Mustur as their new coach.

The champions have been searching for a new coach after Russian Sergey Markoch left last summer to take charge of the national team of Kazakhstan.

Sources told Times of Malta that Neptunes, the dominant force of Maltese waterpolo for the past five years, have already concluded talks with Mustur, a stalwart for the former Yugo-slavia in his heyday.