TUCKER, St James — Spanish coach Carlos Aitor Garcia Sanz will be calling the shots when Montego Bay United (MBU) start the defence of their Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) title in August.

According to a release from the Tucker-based club, their six-month search for the person to guide them ended when Garcia Sanz, who had worked his way through the ranks of the DAV Santa Ana club system up to head coach of the senior team, contacted them about his interest in taking over the reins of the club.

“He reached out to the club and expressed an interest to join our technical team and after reviewing his trajectory with DAV Santa Ana we realised that he was a good fit for our team,” stated Chief Operation Officer Sandra Christie in a release.

Garcia Sanz will be the second foreigner to take over the team in four years after Brazilian Neider Dos Santos was in charge for most of their first season before suddenly resigning early in this second season after the team started slowly.

MBU won their first RSPL title last year under three coaches — Donovan Duckie started the season before resigning in the second round, then Hugh Solomon took over before Dr Dean Weatherly guided them to the win, beating Waterhouse 5-2 in the final.

The MBU release said the club has been known “to go to extraordinary lengths to achieve its goals. It therefore comes as no surprise that the Western-based club has taken the time to identify a coach who has the right combination of experience, grit and knowledge to take the club even further than they have come thus far.”

Garcia Sanz was quoted in the release as follows: “I really appreciate the effort, enthusiasm and commitment that the Montego Bay United FC puts in everything they do and I want to be a part of it. I intend to raise the bar and bring a different style of play to football in Jamaica. I am really excited to join the club and am anxious to begin working.”

Christie said in the release, “We may be Premier League champions at the moment, but that is just the first stage in our dream for our players and for our club. As our player turnover is less than one per cent over the years, we have invested a lot of time and energy in the development of our present team. We want as many of them as possible to transition from the club level to the national level and international levels. We are therefore willing to make the sacrifices to take them there.”

The release said Garcia Sanz has guided the DAV Santa Ana junior players to their biggest achievement and successes, including becoming the first “local team to score six goals against the Real Madrid youth team. His success resulted in a quick transfer from stage to stage. Starting as the club’s Under-17 coach he was promoted to the Under-19 league in short order and he exited as the head coach of DAV Santa Ana Senior Team.”

Garcia Sanz is a Spanish UEFA PRO football coach, it was also pointed out, and “he comes to the club with a bachelor’s degree in psychology, a master’s degree in high performance and sports psychology and more than seven years’ coaching experience.”

Coach Carlos Agito Garcia Sanz will be supported by the club’s director of football Dr Dean Weatherly and the rest of the Montego Bay United Football Team, the club release also said.