Former Kashiwa Reysol manager Tatsuma Yoshida is in the final stages of discussions with Albirex Niigata to become their new manager for next season, sources said Tuesday.

Yoshida recently stepped down as manager of Kashiwa Reysol after leading the Chiba-based club to the quarterfinals of the Asian Champions League this term, but seeing it finish 10th in the J. League overall standings.

Previously, the 41-year-old former midfielder had also served as the youth coach at Reysol, where he spent the first four seasons of his nine-year J. League career which ended in 2001.

Albirex barely managed to remain in J1 with an overall 15th-place finish this season. The J. League first-division side has not yet announced a successor for manager Masaaki Yanagishita, who was not offered a new contract for 2016.