The 49-year-old has signed a two-year contract and makes a return to Riyadh 14 years after being an assistant coach at Al Hilal.

The two-time UEFA European Championship winner’s move was announced on the club’s official social media channels, coming just one day after Cazorla’s final match for Spanish outfit Villareal.

The Korea Republic international star predictably collected the Hotspur Goal of the Season prize for his dazzling solo strike at home to Burnley in the Premier League back in December.

And he added to that by once again picking up the trophies for One Hotspur Player of the Season, One Hotspur Juniors' Player of the Season and Official Supporters’ Clubs’ Player of the Season, just like he did at the end of the last campaign.

Al Zayani, who guided Saudi Arabia to the 1984 championship - the first of three AFC Asian Cup titles the West Asian nation has won - collected 77 percent of the votes on a poll on the-AFC.com.

Al Zayani was one of 10 nominees. Check out the nominees below and the result of the poll at the bottom of the article.

Last week we presented the candidates for the 2018 edition's best goalkeeper, and now it's time to turn our attention to defenders.

So, here are the 14 players in contention for the four places in the backline. Review the nominees and then choose your favourite defenders for this all-star XI in the respective polls.

Owairan's superb effort was picked as the best from a list of 20 goals the-AFC.com shortlisted in polls which were conducted over the last three weeks.

From a delightful tournament-winning strike in Qarshi to impudent efforts in Al-Ram, Arbil, Dhaka and Cibinong, our latest edition of the '5 of the Best' really does cover the length and breadth of the Continent. So enjoy the selection and don't forget to vote for your favourite in the poll below!

Also take a look at past editions that feature acrobatic goals, solo goals, volleys, long-range screamers, free-kicks, last-minute winners and curlers.