Heracles Almelo has finally found a new trainer. Football zone announced on Thursday afternoon that Carlos Vicens will take over from Frank Wormuth after this season. The latter will work again with Mark-Jan Fledderus at FC Groningen from next summer. Vicens is a remarkable name. The Spaniard currently serves as assistant coach to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. Heracles will most likely announce the appointment of Vicens on Friday.
Heracles had known for some time that it had to look for a new trainer, as it was already announced in January that Wormuth would leave the club after four years. At the end of January, FC Groningen then reported the arrival of the German, who will succeed the departing Danny Buijs in the far north. Wormuth has signed a contract in Euroborg for three seasons until mid-2025 and will once again work with Fledderus at the current number eight in the Eredivisie. Heracles then started the search for a suitable successor for Wormuth, but kept himself in the dark for a long time.
Names like Dick Lukkien and Sjors Ultee passed by, but neither the trainer of FC Emmen and Fortuna Sittard will be. René Hake’s name was also mentioned in vain in the rumor circuit. Football zone knows to report that from next season Vicens will have final responsibility in Almelo. Reportedly, the signatures were placed on Thursday under a multi-year contract. The Mallorca-born Spaniard comes over from Manchester City, where he acted as assistant coach to Pep Guardiola. He also had several youth teams under his wing with the English superpower.
RTV Eastreporter Tijmen van Wissing knew in the podcast The East Stand already to report that white smoke would follow at Heracles this week regarding the new trainer. “They are already around with a trainer, but they do not want to say with whom,” said Van Wissing in the podcast of the regional broadcaster on Monday. “Tim Gilissen (technical director, ed.) liked that. We haven’t seen him for weeks and then he comes into the press room after the match against FC Twente. They said we would never guess. Wormuth, by the way, is the case and it turned out to be the case.”
In his active career, Vicens played in the youth academy with Real Mallorca and in lower leagues in Spain and the United States, before starting as a trainer in 2011 at the age of 27. Six years later, in 2017, he made the move to Manchester City’s youth academy. At the English top club he worked with promises such as Cole Palmer, James McAtee, Liam Delap and Samuel Edozie. After being successful as the Under-18 manager last year, winning the FA Cup and Premier League, he was promoted to the first team last summer as Guardiola’s assistant.