Santiago Solari Real Madrid 2018-19Getty Images

Ex-Madrid coach Solari unveiled as new America boss

Ex-Real Madrid coach Santiago Solari will return to the bench at Club America, the Mexican giants confirmed on Tuesday. 

America had been without a coach since prior to Christmas, when they released Miguel Herrera following the club's exit from the CONCACAF Champions League at the hands of Los Angeles FC

And they have now turned to Solari, who spent more than a decade at the Bernabeu as a player and coaching at both youth and senior level before finally cutting ties with the Merengue in March 2019. 

Article continues below

"Club America can reveal that they have come to an agreement with the coach Santiago Solari to take the reins of the first team ahead of the Guardianes 2021 tournament," the Liga MX side explained in a statement. 

America president Santiago Banos added: "We acknowledge that Solari has the perfect profile for our sporting project. 

"Throughout his career as a player and coach he has been able to successfully achieve the demands and objectives of teams like America, whose only goal is the title."

The Argentine, who represented Madrid as a player between 2005 and 2010 during a professional career that also included stints with Inter, Atletico and River Plate, began working with the Spanish giants' youth divisions at the Cadete B level in 2013. 

He worked his way up the Blanco age groups until he took over at the Castilla feeder team in 2016, spending two seasons in the third-tier Segunda Division B. 

And when Zinedine Zidane's replacement on the bench Julen Lopetegui was sacked just a matter of weeks into the 2018-19 season, Solari was considered the logical choice to step up and see Madrid through to the end of the campaign.

Unlike the Frenchman, though, who followed the same trajectory, Solari failed to find success at the Bernabeu. 

In March 2019, after less than five months in his post, the Argentine was relieved of his duties following Madrid's exit in the Champions League quarter-finals at the hands of Ajax.

He now resumes his coaching career in Mexico City, where he is no stranger having played at America's neighbours Atlante towards the end of his time on the pitch. 

Advertisement