Real Madrid could find themselves having to make a huge recruitment decision this summer – and not on the pitch.
Multiple Champions League-winning boss Carlo Ancelotti’s future at the Bernabeu is uncertain, with the legendary Italian coach being linked with the Brazil job.
Brazil have made previous approaches for Ancelotti, only for Real Madrid to extend their manager’s contract to 2026.
A controversial candidate emerges for Real Madrid, in the form of former Arsenal man
According to The Athletic, the Brazilian Football Federation want either Ancelotti or Al Hilal boss Jorge Jesus to take over from Dorival Junior in the dugout – before the Club World Cup, which starts in mid-June.
Naturally, that has sparked speculation over a potential successor to Ancelotti in the Spanish capital, with one name catching the eye in particular.
DefensaCentral report that Madrid president Florentino Perez is weighing up an approach for Cesc Fabregas, an appointment which it’s hard to see going down too well with Los Blancos fans.
Why? Well, for the simple fact that Fabregas, who is currently in charge of Serie A outfit Como, played over 150 games for Barcelona.
While the sight of the Spanish World Cup and Euros winner rocking up to take the reins at the Bernabeu wouldn’t exactly be as controversial as, say, Luis Figo’s rage-sparking move from Barca to Madrid in 2000, we are still talking about one of the most intensely felt rivalries in world football.
And Fabregas isn’t just any old ex-Barcelona player – he grew up supporting his hometown club and spent six years in their famed La Masia youth system, before joining Arsenal in 2003.
Could Madrid really risk provoking the ire of their supporters by naming Fabregas – one of the greatest players ever to have never to win the Champions League – as their new gaffer if Ancelotti leaves?
On the face of it, FourFourTwo feels it could be unlikely – especially with Fabregas less than a year into his first frontline coaching role – but however strange something in football seems, stranger things have probably happened…
