Valletta FC reach verbal agreement with coach Jose Antonio Cardoso Mendes over a new contract

Valletta FC have reached a verbal agreement to extend the contract of first-team coach Jose Antonio Cardoso Mendes, the Times of Malta can confirm.

Cardoso Mendes, popularly known as Toze, joined the Citizens last December when he took over the helm of the team following the resignation of Jesmond Zerafa.

The Portuguese coach found the going tough in the first few months in charge as a congested fixtures schedule and a long injury list left him with a depleted squad for much of the season with the team struggling to any form of consistency.

The inconsistent run of results inevitably saw Valletta miss out on European football this summer as they placed seventh in the Premier League while their hopes of winning the FA Trophy were ended after the MFA EXCO ended the 2020-21 season early due to a ban to organised sport.

Still, the Valletta hierarchy continues to keep their faith in Toze and in the last few weeks sat down with the Portuguese coach for talks over an extension.

A verbal agreement has been now reached and Cardoso Mendes is expected to put pen paper in the coming weeks.

Next season, Toze is expected to be again assisted by his assistant Rui Duarte who has also agreed to a contract extension.

The former Vitoria Guimaraes youth coach is expected to lead a rebuilding process of the Valletta squad following the departure of long-serving players Santiago Malano and Matteo Piciollo, Wellington and Leandro Aguirre whose contract was not renewed.