Fernando Hierro to take on Oviedo coaching post

The soap opera surounding the Oviedo job has taken an unexpected twist. It will be Fernando Hierro who takes the reins of the Asturian outfit for the next two seasons after Arturo Elías, Carlos Slim's son-in-law and representative of the Carso Group (who hold a controlling stake in Oviedo) gave his seal of approval for the operation to go ahead. Oviedo, who had been toying over hiring Paco Jémez, Bernd Schuster and Rubi, had also been negotiating with Joaquín Caparrós, but finally, the club has gone for an entirely different profile.

For Hierro, the Oviedo job will be his first experience as a fully fledged coach after a brief stint as Carlo Ancelotti's assistant at Real Madrid; he will lead an ambitious project  which Slim hopes will propel the team back into the Primera División. The Málaga-born former player is currently in Mexico smoothing out the final flecks of the deal which Oviedo are expected to make in official in the next few hours.