A REAL BLOW TO SPAIN
REAL MADRID have appointed Spain’s Julen Lopetegui as their new head coach just two days before the start of the World Cup – and two years after he nearly became Wolves boss.
Mauricio Pochettino and Jurgen Klopp were the early targets for the Champions League winners following the shock resignation of Zinedine Zidane (right).
But the Spanish giants yesterday announced that former goalkeeper Lopetegui will be the safe pair of hands to take over after the World Cup on a three-year deal.
Real will pay the Spanish FA £1.75million in compensation – a lot less than buying a Premier League boss out of his contract. The 51-year-old Lopetegui only extended his contract until 2020 last month after going undefeated in two years and 20 games in charge of Spain.
The impact of the timing of the announcement will be seen on Friday night when Spain tackle European champions
Portugal in their crunch opening game of Group B.
The 2010 World
Cup winners will also face Iran then Morocco in their group.
One of his first tasks at the Bernabeu will be to convince Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo to stay next season – and maybe persuade Spain keeper David de Gea to finally join.
Lopetegui played one match for Real’s first team – and also represented Barcelona – before he came back to the Spanish capital as a scout and then coach of feeder club Castilla.
After that he took charge of Spain’s youth teams. He spent two years at Porto until he was sacked and was the Fosun Group’s first choice to take over at Wolves in July 2016 before Spain offered him the job.
Lopetegui later admitted: “Wolves is a great club. It was very close but in the end it wasn’t to be.”
Zidane has been linked with Qatar before the Gulf nation hosts the 2022 World Cup.
But he said: “Right now, I am taking a break. I do not know what I will do after, because at the moment the most important thing was the decision that I took. The future? We will see.”