Romanian coach says he is in talks with Santos

"The Santos offer is concrete and serious," Lucescu, 74, told the Romanian daily Gazeta sporturilor.

He said he was "honoured" but added: "It would be very far from home."

"That is the one thing against it. And my wife is not very happy about the prospect."

In a 40-year career Lucescu has coached the Iranian and Turkish national teams as well as clubs in Romania, Italy, Turkey, Ukraine and Russia.

He enjoyed his greatest success in 12 years at Shakhtar Donetsk where he won 22 trophies between 2004 and 2016.

He said he would make his decision "after the New Year"  adding that he had "other interesting proposals".

mr-smk/av/pb