Ghalenoei stepped down as coach of Sepahan Monday night after his team failed to book a place in Iran’s Hazfi Cup semifinals.

The decision means Sepahan will need to act quickly to find a replacement, not only for its two remaining Iran Professional League matches but for the AFC Champions League resumption.

Ghalenoei walks away from Sepahan as a five-time league champion, winning a total of three titles as Esteghlal boss and a further two across two stints with Sepahan.

He also led Iran at the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, where they were eliminated on penalties by the Korea Republic in the quarter-finals.

Sepahan finished second in the 2018-19 Iran Pro League campaign, but a poor run of recent results has seen the club drop to fifth place with two matches remaining this season.

The club has won just once in its past eight matches, suffering defeats in the last three outings.

“We have negotiated with 10 coaches for the empty seat and Ivankovic is also among them,” Ali Pezeshk said.

Ivankovic, now at the helm of Oman national football team, inspired Persepolis to seven titles in Iran football.

Sepahan, who escaped relegation last season, has penned a two-year contract with Ghalenoei.

Ghalenoei helped Zob Ahan finishes runner-up in IPL and the team advanced to AFC Champions League Round of 16 under tutelage of the 54-year-old coach.

Sepahan started the season with currently Iran Olympic coach Zlatko Kranjcar but parted ways with the Croat in January following the poor results.

Ex-Zob Ahan coach Mansour Ebrahimzadeh was named as new head coach of Sepahan but he also failed to keep team on the track.

Ghalenoei has won IPL title three times with Esteghlal and has led Sepahan to title two times.