Two New Candidates Shortlisted to Take Over Alvaro Arbeloa at Real Madrid
The future is unclear on who will be the coaching Real Madrid next season. Alvaro Arbeloa took over from Xabi Alonso in January, but at the time, the club did not release the contract that was offered.
Reports suggest it was until the end of the season. However, if he managed to win the Champions League or La Liga, he may be considered for an extended contract. There have been plenty of names being linked with the job, the biggest being former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp.
The German is not the only name being mentioned since the start of the year. There are others, and two new names are said to be on the shortlist for Los Blancos.
Mauricio Pochettino Candidate for Real Madrid Job
According to sources close to ESPN, United States national team coach Mauricio Pochettino is on the shortlist. The former Tottenham Hotspur coach is well-liked by the Real Madrid president, Florentino Perez, who sees him as one of the top candidates for the job.
It is said the La Liga side is putting together a list of potential coaches who could take over ahead of the 2026-27 season. Pochettino will coach the US team at this summer's World Cup, but after that, he could look for a return to club management, having coached Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, and others.
It does feel like it will be another new face, with sources saying that Arbeloa was never going to be offered the job full-time. The club may hand him the opportunity to coach the Castilla squad, as he was doing. However, he may look for a head coaching job with a senior team, having had a taste for it.
Another name mentioned with the job is former Barcelona player Cesc Fabregas. The Spaniard is currently the coach of Italian Serie A side Como, and is having an excellent season. He has developed former Real Madrid players Nico Paz and Jacobo Ramón, and the club have been impressed with that
According to pundit Jorge Picon on El Desmarque, Fabregas is another name on the shortlist as the hierarchy discusses who would be the right man to steer the club back to success after what could be two seasons without a major trophy.
First, Arbeloa will see this season out, and the hope will be that he can guide the team to some silverware. If he does, it will be interesting to see where Perez stands.
-031bbeb5612ca252e2129722373fa56d.png "Jordan Merritt")
Jordan Merritt is a staff writer for Real Madrid On SI. Before joining On SI, he wrote at Fansided, covering Ole Miss football, basketball, and baseball. He has also written for YardBarker, Heavy Sports, and the official EFL site. Merritt is a big sports fan, spending most of his weekends watching Soccer, the NFL, the NBA, college football/basketball, and others. Before starting his career as a freelance writer, Merritt was an Engineer for over 10 years. He lives in West Yorkshire, England, and is keenly interested in sports trading cards.
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