Miron Muslic has signed a three-and-a-half year contract to become Plymouth Argyle's new head coach.

The 42-year-old will watch the Emirates FA Cup third round tie away to Brentford tomorrow, alongside the Pilgrims' owner and chairman Simon Hallett. First team coach Kevin Nancekivell will form part of Muslic’s backroom team, with further confirmation of the make-up of his staff to follow.

Steven Schumacher, who guided Argyle to the League One title in 2022/23 with 101 points before leaving for Stoke City in December 2023, was also in the running for the Home Park vacancy, but the club opted for Muslic, who made his name at Belgian Pro League side Cercle Brugge.

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His first game in charge of the Pilgrims will be the Championship clash against Oxford United at Home Park next Tuesday. Hallett said in a club statement tonight: "Miron had a clear vision of how he wanted to take Argyle forward and showed a depth of tactical awareness that made it clear exactly how he wanted the team to set up and play.

"He comes with glowing reviews from his time at Cercle Brugge where he took a team from a lowly league position to European football which is no mean feat. I want to welcome him to the club and look forward to seeing him have an immediate impact on the team."

Argyle also said in their statement: "Muslic beat off competition from several high calibre candidates to become Argyle’s number one choice with the board."

Renowned Italian sports journalist Fabrizio Romano reported earlier tonight that Argyle had decided to appoint Muslic, . He posted on X (formerly Twitter): "Verbal agreement in place. Details to follow then time to sign. After excellent work at Cercle Brugge making history for the club, set for new chapter in UK."

Muslic had a successful spell at Cercle Brugge after stepping up from his assistant's role to replace Dominik Thalhammer in September 2022. He guided Cercle to a fourth place finish out of 16 teams in the Belgian Pro League last season as they clinched European competition qualification for just the fourth time in club history.

They progressed to the league phase of the UEFA Europa Conference League and currently have a record of three wins, two draws and one defeat from their six games. However, Muslic was dismissed by Cercle at the start of December after a 3-2 league defeat away to bottom-of-the-table Beerschot.

Argyle have been without a head coach since Wayne Rooney left the club on New Year's Eve with the team bottom of the Championship after just four wins from 23 games.

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