Carlo Ancelotti has completed his long-awaited move from Paris to Madrid as he formally takes the managerial position at Real Madrid following the departure of José Mourinho.
Much has been made of the managerial situation in the Spanish capital as Mourinho’s boots are big ones to fill and Ancelotti appeared to be the only man Madrid were interested in but his now former club PSG were unwilling to part ways with the Italian without a large compensation fee. The Middle-Eastern owned Parisian side have now relented however and Ancelotti will formally start his new job at the beginning of next week.
Replacing Ancelotti, who won the French League title last year as well as having a good run in Europe, will be former French international and Manchester United centre-back, Laurent Blanc. His first task will surely be to convince the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva to stay with the French Champions after the Brazilian centre-back was quoted recently as saying that he and the Swedish striker were yet to discuss whether they’d seek a move away from Paris or not.
It looks like that Ancelotti’s start to life at Madrid will be equally turbulent as, despite the impending arrival of Isco, Gonzalo Higuain, Angel Di Maria and Cristiano Ronaldo are all being heavily linked with moves away from the Spanish capital so his first priority will be to try and either keep the nucleus of the team together or, failing that, set to work straight away on building a new one.
Ancelotti and Blanc have signed three-year and two year deals respectively.