New York City Football Club head coach Ronny Deila is leaving the club to become manager of Belgian club Standard Liege, NYCFC officials said Monday.

Deila joined the club before the 2020 season. In 2021, he led NYCFC to its first MLS Cup title, which was New York City’s first professional sports championship in nearly a decade.

NYCFC is currently at the top of the Eastern Conference standings midway through the MLS season.

“Everyone at the club would like to thank Ronny for the fantastic job he has done here,” said NYCFC Sporting Director David Lee. “With Ronny at the helm, we have developed an even stronger culture of winning and togetherness and have accomplished our number-one goal of bringing silverware to this Club, to this city, and to our fans.”

Nick Cushing, who has been an assistant coach with NYCFC for two years,  was named interim head coach.