Slaven Bilic appointed Beijing Guoan boss after West Brom dismissal

Martin Macdonald

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:39 BST
• 2 min read

Slaven Bilic has made a swift return to management in the Chinese Super League win Beijing Guoan just a few weeks after being sacked by West Brom, who have since appointed Sam Allardyce.

The Croatian had been in charge of the Baggies since June 2019, and helped them gain promotion to the Premier League at his first attempt, gaining automatic promotion after finishing second in the 2019/20 Championship.

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However, he oversaw a poor first-half of the 2020/21 campaign, with his side recording just seven points from their opening 13 games, which eventually led to his dismissal.

Less than a month later, though, Bilic has found a new club in the form of Beijing Guoan, who opted not to renew the contract of Bruno Genesio.

A statement released on the club’s Twitter account confirmed the appointment.

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“We are honored to announce a 2-year contract with our new first team coach Mr. Slaven Bilic and coach team, welcome to Beijing,” it read.

Bilic heads to the Chinese Super League during an eventful period, as the football authorities in China recently announced a new wage cap for foreign players set at £2.7m per season.

That will lead to an exodus of high-profile foreign imports who had previously moved to Asia for the huge wages that have been on offer over the past few seasons.

The player most impacted by these new regulations at Beijing is former Villarreal striker Cedric Bakambu, who has been linked with a move back to La Liga with Atletico Madrid recently.