Who is going to Replace Lopetegui in Real Madrid?

The inevitable happened. Julen Lopetegui was fired after a humiliating loss in El Clasico, in which Barcelona demolished his Real Madrid with 5:1. What is the biggest and the most intriguing topic among all soccer pundits and fans around the world, is his replacement.

Real Madrid’s board issued a statement this Monday, saying that they want to thank Lopetegui for all his previous work, but that they feel that there is and we quote:

“A large disparity between the quality within the Real Madrid squad, which boasts eight nominees for the next Ballon d’Or award – an unprecedented number in the club’s history – and the team’s results to date.”

That might be true, but be sure that Ronaldo’s departure made a huge impact on Real’s overall quality and the chemistry on the field. Above, all the board didn’t bring an adequate replacement for the Portuguese, and we could see that in the previous games Los Blancos played. They had problems with efficiency, which was something unthinkable with Cristiano on board. But all this is not important at the moment.

The only thing which matters is considering Lopetegui’s replacement. Already, media around the world started speculating with names, and theories, heating the debates among the fans.

Antonio Conte was the first pick of Florentino Perez. The Italian manager was one of the options before Lopetegui even came to Bernabeu, but something prevented that deal from happening. The same happened now, only this time, we know at least one reason why Conte didn’t sign. Sergio Ramos strongly opposed to this idea, because he isn’t a big fan of the former Chelsea manager. He even gave one very distinct interview in which he said that Conte would not have too much respect from the players if he comes to Madrid.

“Respect is won, it’s not imposed. Not one name or another. We have won everything with managers that you know, and at the end, the management of the dressing room is more important than the technical knowledge of a manager.” Ramos said when the reporters asked him about the possibility of Conte’s signing.

One other thing also might be the reason and that is Eden Hazard’s bad relationship with the Italian, and Real isn’t willing to endanger the possible move of one of the best players in the world, in some of the next few transfer windows. After all these signals, the manager and the board failed to seal the deal

The next guy who was on the list was a former player and a legend of this club, Michael Laudrup. But he turned down the offer to become Real’s coach. According to several sources, Laudrup doesn’t think that it is a good time to take the lead in Madrid, even though he is free and without a club.

“Laudrup is not looking for an opportunity to coach Madrid, rather a more ideal situation to undertake such a post. Bearing in mind how things have been going at Madrid, now’s not the right moment. He doesn’t want to return to the club regardless of the circumstances”. said Byram Tutumlu, Laudrup’s agent.

All eyes are now pointed towards Jose Mourinho, who has enormous troubles in Manchester. If by any chance the Portuguese get fired, Florentino Perez would have welcomed him with open arms. In the last couple of weeks, United’s manager is under huge pressure, and there have been many speculations about his future at Old Trafford. When Spanish reporters asked him about that last week, Mourinho gave them a straight answer:

“My future is here. I have a contract and until the end of my contract I only think about Manchester United. I am happy to stay here longer than that.”

But we often witnessed many strange outcomes in situations like this one now, and with utmost certainty, we can say that anything is possible, especially after what happened today.

Mourinho insists that he needs to strengthen his back line, which is why he demanded some extra funds for the next transfer window. He was supposed to discuss this matter with vice-chairman Ed Woodward today, but the talks were canceled in the last minute, which pretty much made Mourinho angry.

And that means that Real Madrid still has some chances. For now, Santiago Solari is placed as an interim coaching solution and he will be on the bench this Wednesday in Copa del Rey clash against Melilla.

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