Real Madrid club captain Sergio Ramos has reportedly given his approval of the coach chosen by club president Florentino Perez to replace Julen Lopetegui.
The Spanish tactician has endured a difficult few weeks at the Bernabeu, as he saw his side lose four of five games while scoring just once in a dire run of form.
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While they returned to winning ways in midweek with a win over Plzen in the Champions League, it wasn’t a particularly convincing display and it gets even more difficult this weekend with a trip to the Nou Camp to face Barcelona in El Clasico on Sunday afternoon.
According to Sportmediaset, Lopetegui may well be on the brink as it’s suggested that Antonio Conte has freed himself of his contract with Chelsea and is being lined up as the next Real Madrid boss if they lose this weekend.
Building on that, Don Balon now add that Perez has decided upon Conte as being the right man for the job to step in and get the Spanish giants back on track, while Ramos has offered his approval of the appointment rather than seeing a return for Jose Mourinho.
Time will tell if an agreement is reached and Conte does arrive in the Spanish capital after this weekend, but it doesn’t sound particularly promising for Lopetegui either way who is seemingly fighting a losing battle.
The pressure was on immediately for the former Spain boss as aside from having the lofty expectations and demands set by the success under predecessor Zinedine Zidane, he also saw talisman Cristiano Ronaldo leave this past summer.
That was always going to make life difficult for him, and so now it remains to be seen if a win over Barcelona this weekend is enough to save his job and perhaps keep Conte waiting a little longer.