Real Madrid make direct contact with World Cup-winning manager – report | OneFootball

In a major development, COPE (h/t RM4Arab) reports that Real Madrid have made direct contact with Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni as the hunt for a new head coach for the summer steps up.

Club president Florentino Perez is exploring all his options as Alvaro Arbeloa is expected to be removed from his position as the first-team head coach at the end of the season.

Scaloni high on Real Madrid’s list

Following a disastrous second half of the season, where they crashed out of the Copa del Rey to a lower division outfit, fell 11 points behind Barcelona in La Liga, and got eliminated from the UEFA Champions League vs Bayern Munich, the change is imminent.

Arbeloa, despite having some support from the locker room, will not continue beyond this season.

Names such as Jurgen Klopp, Mauricio Pochettino, and even former boss Jose Mourinho have been doing the rounds as possible candidates to take over the reins.

The next Real Madrid manager? (Photo by Marcos Brindicci/Getty Images)

However, Scaloni, too, is on the agenda, after the excellent job he has done with the Argentina national team, leading them to the 2022 FIFA World Cup triumph.

Now, it is being suggested that there have been direct talks between the Argentine manager and Real Madrid over the possibility of a move.

If Los Blancos do decide to go down this route, they would have to wait for Scaloni’s arrival until after the World Cup in North America, for he will be leading the Albiceleste at the tournament this summer.

Scaloni, though, has no experience managing a club, with his only assignment at a club level being a season-long tenure as the assistant manager at Sevilla.

So, it will be interesting to see whether Real Madrid are prepared to take a bet on the 47-year-old to replace Arbeloa in the summer.