Julen Lopetegui has been named as the new Real Madrid Coach. The current Spain boss will take over at the Santiago Bernabeu after the World Cup ends.
Following the sudden retirement of the inimitable Zinedine Zidane after the UEFA Champions League final in Kyiv, a number of high-profile coaches have been linked to the job. Former Tottenham coach Andre Villas-Boas was one of the favorites, but it seems Madrid President Florentino Perez has had other names in mind.
A statement from the Los Galacticos read:”Julen Lopetegui will be the coach of Real Madrid after the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Real Madrid CF announces that Julen Lopetegui will coach the first team for the next three seasons. Julen Lopetegui will join the club after the participation of the Spanish team in the World Cup, after two years leading the national team.”
Interestingly, Spain will be taking on Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal in the opening game of the World Cup. Ronaldo’s future at Real Madrid has been under speculation for a while now and it will be one of Lopetegui’s first challenges to resolve the issue at the earliest.