After 17 years of leaving the shores of Ghana unceremoniously as the head coach of the Black Stars,Mariano Barreto has been appointed head coach of Asante Kotoko.

According to our sources the Portuguese trainer will be on a monthly salary of $8,000 and will also come with his own video analyst cum assistant which the club will pay for.

The Portuguese trainer is the new substantive coach of Kotoko after so many months without one.

Kotoko CEO, Nana Yaw Amponsah  reportedly submitted a list of three coaches to become the club's new coach with the board of directors settling on the veteran Portuguese trainer.

Mariano Barreto has in the past coached clubs like Marítimo, Al-Nassr FC, Naval 1º de Maio, AEL Limassol, Recreativo do Libolo and Al-Qadisiyah.

He has been unemployed since leaving Lithuanian side Stumbras in January 2019.

The former Ethiopia national team coach served as assistant coach at Russian sides Dynamo Moscow and Kuban Krasnodar.

Asante Kotoko have been without a substantive coach since sacking Maxwell Konadu in December 2020.