Gent have announced that Ivan Leko will be their head coach for the 2025/2026 campaign. The Croatian has left his job at Standard Liege to take up the role of leading the Buffaloes next season. There was a vacancy at the club after Danijel Milicevic was sacked just over a month after being made permanent head coach. The sides terrible play-off performances saw Milicevic lose his job. In Leko, the side now have a head coach with plenty of Pro League experience.
Leko managed both Club Brugge and Antwerp, winning a league title with Club and the cup with Antwerp. He has signed a deal for three seasons with Gent.
Despite Standard also having a poor play-off campaign, Leko did a fantastic job with meagre resources at the club. The side had very little financial wiggle room and relied on players coming in on free’s, loans or very small transfer fee’s. His side managed to finish the regular season in 7th place despite being a candidate for the bottom four. Leko will now have more money and certainly more quality, on paper at least, to work with next season. He will also be under more pressure to deliver than he was with Standard.
