Real Madrid identify interim coach for the Club World Cup - and eye exciting summer signing
Madrid are preparing to name a caretaker successor to Carlo Ancelotti, and could add a teenaged starlet to their roster.
Real Madrid chiefs are considering naming Santiago Solari as interim head coach for this summer’s FIFA Club World Cup, with Carlo Ancelotti likely to part company with Los Blancos after four seasons in charge.
And Solari is keen to add an exciting young talent to Madrid’s ranks ahead of the tournament in the United States: 17-year-old River Plate starlet Franco Mastantuono.
Ancelotti heading for Real exit
Ancelotti, who is believed to be in line to take over as Brazil head coach, is expected leave the Bernabéu before the Club World Cup takes place in June and July, after a season that has seen Madrid relinquish their European title and lose two domestic cup finals to arch rivals Barcelona.
The Italian’s only outside hope of keeping his job is if Madrid - a club he also coached between 2013 and 2015 - can overhaul Barça’s four-point lead at the top of LaLiga in the five games remaining this season.
Solari to keep Real seat warm for Xabi Alonso?
As Madrid bosses look towards the potential appointment of Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso as Ancelotti’s full-time successor, the 15-time European champions have hatched a plan to place Solari in caretaker charge for the inaugural edition of FIFA’s expanded, 32-team Club World Cup.
This would give Alonso time to settle into the job ahead of next season, without being placed under immediate pressure to win a trophy highly coveted by the club.
Solari rated by Real Madrid hierarchy
Solari, who currently serves as Madrid’s director of soccer, has the full confidence of both president Florentino Pérez and general manager José Angel Sánchez. The Argentinian boasts experience of life in Los Merengues’ dugout, having taken charge of the first team for 32 games in the 2018/19 season, after the sacking of Julen Lopetegui.
During his time as Madrid head coach, Solari is said to have particularly impressed the club hierarchy with the way he handled two major issues.
Firstly, he proved willing to give opportunities to a then-18-year-old Vinícius Júnior, who had found himself frozen out under Lopetegui. Secondly, club chiefs agreed with his firm stance on Isco’s attempts to undermine his authority. The midfielder ended up facing internal disciplinary action.
Although Solari was ultimately dismissed in the wake of Madrid’s heavy last-16 defeat to Ajax in the Champions League, the club took plenty of positives from his tenure. When the 48-year-old left his post as head coach of Mexican’s Club América in March 2022, Madrid were quick to bring him back into the organization.
And as director of soccer, Solari has championed the signing of Mastantuono, a winger and attacking midfielder who has excelled for River since making his first-team debut as a 16-year-old in January 2024.
Clubs increasingly willing to pay River’s Mastantuono price
As Diario AS has reported since mid-2024, Madrid are very well placed to snap up the teenager, who is also attracting admiring glances from other major European clubs.
Up to now, interested teams have balked at Mastontuono’s €45 million ($51 million) buy-out fee, but the feeling is growing at the Bernabéu that suitors are becoming less and less put off by such an outlay.
Clubs’ growing willingness to spend big on the player is not surprising, in view of evidence such as River’s weekend win over sworn enemies Boca Juniors, in which Mastantuono opened the scoring with a fine free-kick.
Given that Mastantuono has an Italian passport, Madrid would not be restricted by FIFA rules preventing them from signing non-EU players under the age of 18.
However, River are reluctant to let the player leave in the immediate future, with the club’s general secretary, Stéfano di Carlo, telling ESPN this week: “Franco will stay here for the rest of the [calendar] year.” In other words: Pay his release clause in full, or he’s going nowhere.
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