MADRID: Carlo Ancelotti will become Brazil manager after leaving Real Madrid at the end of the season, the Brazilian FA (CBF) said on Monday.
The 65-year-old Ancelotti has enjoyed four hugely successful years in his second tenure at the Spanish giants but they are set to finish this season without a trophy.
“The president of CBF Ednaldo Rodrigues has announced on Monday the signing of Italian manager Carlo Ancelotti,“ it said in a statement.
“Bringing Carlo Ancelotti to coach Brazil is more than a strategic move. It is a statement to the world that we are determined to regain football’s top spot,“ Rodrigues said in the statement.
“He is the greatest coach in history and now he is at the helm of the greatest national team on the planet. Together, we will write new chapters in the glorious history of Brazilian football.”
Brazilian soccer sources said Ancelotti will sign a one-year deal to become the world’s highest-paid national team coach ahead of the 2026 World Cup, with the option to extend his contract. Real have yet to announce Ancelotti’s departure.
He is set to be replaced by former Real midfielder Xabi Alonso, with sources close to the 41-year-old former Spain international saying he has agreed a three-year deal.
Alonso, 43, who announced earlier this month that he was leaving Bayer Leverkusen after guiding them to a domestic double last term, will join Real before the inaugural Club World Cup in the United States from June 14 to July 14, club sources said.
Ancelotti had a year remaining on his contract but Real’s underwhelming season and his desire to coach Brazil have led to a mutual agreement to part ways, the sources added.
Second-placed Real are seven points adrift of Barcelona, who could secure the league title on Wednesday without kicking a ball if Real fail to win at home to Mallorca.
Regardless of Real’s result, a Barca victory in the city derby away to Espanyol on Thursday would clinch the title.
