Free State Stars have snapped up former Cameroon national team coach Denis Lavagne on a three year contract‚ signing the paperwork on Wednesday to bed down their new coach for the coming season.

The 51-year-old from Beziers comes with an impressive CV having taken Coton Sport of Cameroon to the African Champions League final and also coaching the Indomitable Lions in 2011 and 2012.

He has also worked for Qatar‚ China‚ Egypt‚ Morocco and Tunisia‚ where he was in charge of Etoile Sahel‚ who beat Orlando Pirates last December in the African Confederation Cup final.

Lavagne replaces Gianni Solinas‚ who left to go back to Italy for family reasons at the end of the season. Lavagne will be assisted by Bradley Carnell‚ who also worked under the Italian.

Lavagne began his coaching career in his early 20s as an assistant in the French second division before getting his break in Cameroon‚ where he spent four seasons with Coton Sport in the provincial town of Garoua.

They won four championships and three cups and got to the final of the Champions League in 2008‚ losing to Al Ahly of Egypt in the decider.

On the basis of his achievements at club level‚ Lavagne took over the Indomitable Lions in 2011 but was shown the door after their shock elimination in the African Nations Cup qualifiers in a shock defeat to the tiny Cape Verde Islands.

That result cost them a place at 2013 finals in South Africa.

He won the cup in Tunisia with Etoile Sahel three years ago and last worked at Morocco’s Maghreb Fes up until the end of the season last month.