Giovanni Tedesco has been appointed as coach of Santa Lucia after agreeing a deal until the end of the season. He replaces Oliver Spiteri who stepped down last week.

Tedesco is no new face to Maltese football after coaching Floriana, Birkirkara, Hamrun Spartans, Gzira United, Valletta and Sirens.

He had served as coach of Floriana between April 2014 and June 2015, followed by a short spell with Birkirkara between June and December 2015. He returned to Malta to join Floriana in June 2016, staying until December 2017. Tedesco joined Hamrun Spartans in summer 2018 but then moved to Gzira United in May 2019. After stepping down in January 2020, he moved to Valletta. He moved to the United Arab Emirates to join Al Bataeh Club but returned to Malta in December 2020 to join Sirens. Last summer, he moved to Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates together with a number of Malta-based players including Rowen Muscat, Jean Paul Farrugia, Conor Borg and Matias Muchardi but the project fell through.

The Palermo-born coach had started his coaching career at Palermo at youth level and had coached Foligno before moving to Malta. After leaving Birkirkara, he had a short spell as coach of Palermo in the Serie A mid-way through season 2015/16.

Santa Lucia are currently second from bottom on 11 points, four points ahead of bottom-placed Sliema Wanderers and one behind Mosta.