Real Betis have confirmed the appointment of Manuel Pellegrini as their new head coach on a three-year contract.
📣 OFFICIAL | Manuel Pellegrini will be #RealBetis head coach next season 🤝🆕💚
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It is said that Betis tried to appoint Pellegrini a year ago when Setien left the club, but his position at West Ham and the subsequent compensation package meant any move was not feasible.
The Chilean is well-respected within Spanish football having enjoyed stints at the helm of Villarreal, Real Madrid and Malaga.
Pellegrini – who has been out of work since leaving West Ham in December – will take over first-team affairs from the end of the current season, with Alexis Trujillo currently acting as interim boss.
Trujillo is the club’s sporting director and is overseeing matches following the dismissal of Rubi last month, leading the side to two victories in his five games at the helm.
Earlier this week it was outlined by both Marca and Diario AS that the former Manchester City boss was favourite for the job in Seville.
A report in Radio Marca has added that former Monaco and Villarreal sporting director Antonio Cordon could head up a new-look sporting department at the club, although this is yet to be confirmed.
Pellegrini coached Villarreal between 2004 and 2009 – famously steering them to the Champions League semi-final in 2006 – before his appointment at Real Madrid, whom he left after just one season having failed to win a trophy despite Los Blancos collecting 96 points in La Liga.
He then spent three years at Malaga – who were within one minute of the last four in the Champions League in 2013 before going down to Borussia Dortmund – and then spent a further three campaigns at Manchester City, with whom he won the Premier League title in his debut season.
Pellegrini subsequently had stints in charge at Hebei China Fortune and West Ham, whom he guided to a top half finish in the Premier League last season before his dismissal in December.
Former Malaga and Watford boss Javi Gracia and Marcelino Garcia Toral, most recently at Valencia, had also been linked – via Estadio Deportivo, but Pellegrini is the chosen appointment.
