Soccer Football - LaLiga - Real Madrid v Villarreal - Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - December 17, 2023 Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti before the match REUTERS/Isabel Infantes/File Photo
(Reuters) -Manager Carlo Ancelotti has extended his contract with Real Madrid until 2026, the LaLiga club said on Friday.
Ancelotti has been at Real since 2021, having previously managed the club from 2013 to 2015. The Italian has won one league title with Real, along with two Champions League trophies and two Club World Cups.
"Real Madrid C. F. and Carlo Ancelotti have agreed to extend our coach's contract until June 30, 2026," Real said in a statement.
His contract was due to expire in 2024, and this extension ends speculation that Ancelotti would take over as manager of Brazil.
In March of this year, then Brazilian FA (CBF) president Ednaldo Rodrigues told Reuters that Ancelotti was his main target for the position of national team coach.
In July, when introducing caretaker manager Fernando Diniz, he remained confident: "He (Ancelotti) will be here, you can be sure of that," Rodrigues said.
Ancelotti, the only manager to have won a title in all of Europe's big five leagues, had previously refused to speak about his plans.
"I'll give you the chance to ask another question," Ancelotti told a reporter at a press conference before Real's Champions League match against Napoli last month, when asked if he would be at the club for another season.
Earlier this month, Rodrigues was removed from his post by a Rio de Janeiro court which annulled an assembly of the organisation held in 2022 in which Rodrigues was elected to lead the CBF until 2026.
The president of the Superior Court of Sports Justice Jose Perdiz was named interim head, and sources told Reuters that CBF’s political situation and uncertainty was a key factor for Ancelotti’s decision to accept the Real Madrid offer.
Real lead LaLiga standings on goal difference ahead of Girona after 18 games, and their next game sees them host Mallorca on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes and Fernando Kallas; Editing by Jon Boyle, Pritha Sarkar and Tomasz Janowski)
