Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has firmly rejected suggestions he will step down at the end of the season, instead insisting he intends to stay in the Spanish capital for another four years.
There are rumors about the imminent departure of Ancelotti appeared earlier this weekstating that the 65-year-old coach who has seen it all has seen enough. Despite having already won two trophies this season, questions are being raised about the Italian icon’s tactical decisions.
Ancelotti was criticized for his gung-ho approach in the final of the Supercopa de España in January, while his team was defeated by Barcelona for the second time this season. There were also suggestions that the manager of the club and the hierarchy they clashed over-transmission strategy.
Despite this, Ancelotti does not want to be anywhere else at least until the end of his contract, which expires in 2026 – and possibly beyond that.
“The date of my departure from this club will never be decided by me, there is no way,” the Real Madrid boss told the assembled media on Tuesday. “That day will come, but I don’t know when it could be, it’s not up to me to decide. It could be tomorrow after the game, in the next game, in a year or in five years. I’m ahead and I have a goal.”
This statement of intent came shortly after Florentino Perez extended his term as club president until 2029 – a date he liked Ancelotti. “We will have Florentino Perez here for another four years and he, who knows me very well, knows that the goal is to be here for another four years and that we can say goodbye together, with all the love in the world,” the Italian outlined.
Perez has a strong working relationship with Ancelotti, but that didn’t stop him sacking the manager back in May 2015, one short year after ending the club’s interminable wait for a tenth. European Cup.
“The affection that the players and the fans have for Carlo is the same as I have for him,” Perez said at the time, warning: “The demands here Real Madrid are very high.”
READ THE LATEST REAL MADRID NEWS, RUMORS AND GOSSIP
