MADRID, May 28 (Xinhua) -- Spanish La Liga club Granada confirmed on Friday that Diego Martinez will not continue as their first team coach for next season after turning down an offer of a new contract.
Martinez leaves Granada after three seasons in charge which saw him lead the club to promotion from the second division in his first campaign, before taking them to a seventh-place finish in their first campaign in the top-flight and seeing them qualify for Europe for the first time in their history.
Last season Granada reached the quarterfinals of the Europa League and ended a respectable ninth in La Liga.
"The Board of Directors did everything we could to get him to continue, but we respect the coach's decision and we are grateful for his honesty," read a club statement.
"We want to thank the coach and all of his technical staff for their efforts, professionalism and success in their trajectory leading this team...The name of Diego Martinez will be forever linked with this club and Granada CF will always be his home," it continued.
Martinez is the sixth La Liga coach to leave their job following the end of the season, joining Jose Luis Mendilibar (Eibar) and Jose Rojo 'Pacheta' (Huesca), who stepped down after their clubs were relegated and Sergio Gonzalez, who was sacked after Valledolid's relegation.
Jose Luis Bordalas left Getafe on Wednesday to join Valencia on Thursday, while Zinedine Zidane's departure from Real Madrid was also confirmed by the club on Thursday and Ronald Koeman's future at FC Barcelona remains up in the air. Enditem
