With Carlo Ancelotti's future at Real Madrid still up in the air, club president Florentino Perez has reportedly decided who the Italian's potential replacement will be.
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The four-time UEFA Champions League-winning manager has not enjoyed the same success this season as he did in the previous campaign with Los Blancos, and it seems his superiors' patience is wearing thin.
Real have all but relinquished their LaLiga title to rivals Barcelona, with the Catalan giants 14 points ahead of Ancelotti's men. Couple that with a heavy Supercopa de Espana loss to Barca recently, and Perez has seemingly been pondering the Italian's future at the Santiago Bernabeu ever since.
According to Fichajes, the Spanish executive already has a replacement in mind for the 63-year-old, and it is former Los Merengues star Xabi Alonso.
The former midfielder had a shaky start to life in top-level football management with Bayer Leverkusen, winning just one of his first seven games in charge of the Bundesliga outfit, but has since lost only four of his past 24 matches in all competitions.
The Black and Reds are now contending for a UEFA Europa League position, and are also in the semi-finals of the aforementioned competition, where they will face AS Roma.
Alonso also had a successful playing career with Real Sociedad, Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Real, whom he won the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League title with under the tutelage of Ancelotti, while he also starred for Spain as they won the won the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Championship twice.
It is for this reason that Perez is believed to think that 41-year-old will resonate with the players and ultimately be successful in the Spanish capital.
The same report claims that the Tolosa native has a €10 million (R202 million) release clause in his deal with the Germain side, a fee that is not expected to be an obstacle for Real should they wish to hire him.
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Ancelotti can still win the Champions League and the Cope del Rey this season, though, which could perhaps make Perez rethink his position on axing the former AC Milan and Chelsea boss.
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