Spain head coach coach Julen Lopetegui will take over as Real Madrid manager after the World Cup.
The 51-year-old, who managed the Madrid B team between 2008 and 2009, has signed a three year contract at the Santiago Bernabeu but will not be in place until Spain’s tournament is over. That could be as late as July 15 were Spain to make it to the World Cup Final.
Real have been without a manager since Zinedine Zidane announced he was stepping down on May 31, just five days after he had worn a third consecutive Champions League title with Los Blancos.
Lopetegui is leading Spain into his first international tournament since being appointed as successor to Vicente del Bosque and had signed an extension until 2020 as recently as May 22.
A statement from the Spanish federation (RFEF) confirmed that they would receive payment of Lopetegui's release clause from Real Madrid.
"The RFEF asks for maximum respect to maintain normality in the national team camp ahead of our tournament debut against Portugal," the statement added.
The appointment constitutes something of a surprise, with Chelsea boss Antonio Conte, Tottenham's Mauricio Pochettino and former Real Madrid midfielder Guti more consistently mentioned in relation to the job than Lopetegui.
The Spaniard's most recent club experience came at Porto, where he missed out on the Portuguese title in his only full season before departing in January 2016.
