Real Madrid names Ancelotti as manager, PSG appoints Blanc as his successor

Tuesday saw Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain name their new coaches almost simultaneously putting to rest all the speculation. While Real successfully lured Carlo Ancelotti, despite the Italian still having a year to go on his contract at French champions PSG. PSG filled the void left by Ancelotti by settling on former France coach and player Laurent Blanc.

Carlo Ancelotti has been appointed as the new coach of Real Madrid on a three-year deal, the club confirmed on Tuesday.

"Carlo Ancelotti will be the coach of Real Madrid next season," said a statement on the club's website.

Ancelotti will be formally presented to the media on Wednesday afternoon.

Carlo Ancelotti. Pic/AFP

The 54-year-old's protracted move from Paris Saint-Germain was finally confirmed after the French champions also appointed Laurent Blanc to be their coach for next season on Tuesday.

That cleared the path for Madrid to end a five-week wait to announce their new boss after it was announced Jose Mourinho would not be continuing at the club on May 20.

However, the former Juventus, AC Milan and Chelsea boss has always been Real president Florentino Perez first choice to replace Mourinho and arrives with an impressive CV.

"He has won practically everything in the ambit of international football (two Champions Leagues, two European Supercups, One World Club Cup and One Intertoto Cup) and has won the league in three different championships in which he has managed (Italy, England and France)," the club statement added.

"Familiar with the pressure of managing big teams on the continent, the Italian is a guarantee to manage an exciting project."

It is that experience that Madrid have bet on after a tumultuous final year under Mourinho in which Real failed to win a major trophy and the Portuguese clashed with many of his senior players.

And his appointment has been backed by defender Sergio Ramos, one of those who had a public clash with Mourinho last season.

"You can only say good things about his CV and what he's shown at a global level," he said on Tuesday at a press conference ahead of Spain's Confederations Cup semi-final with Italy.

It is Ancelotti's proven track record in the Champions League in particular that attracted Perez as winning a 10th European Cup remains Madrid's primary objective.

After falling short at the semi-final stage under Mourinho for the past three seasons, Perez has now entrusted Ancelotti to take what is currently the most expensive squad ever assembled in the history of the game the extra two stages required to land Madrid's first Champions League trophy since 2002.

The Italian's arrival is also likely to signal the beginning of major moves in the transfer market from the Spanish giants who have so far just exercised their right to buy-back Spanish under-21 international Dani Carvajal from Bayer Leverkusen and converted 21-year-old Brazilian Casemiro's loan deal from Sao Paulo into a permanent move in recent weeks.

The purchase of Malaga midfielder Isco for a price in the region of 30 million euros ($39 million, £25.5 million) is also expected to be completed this week as Real look set to beat off strong competition from Manchester City for the highly rated Spanish international.

Real have also been strongly linked with a move for Tottenham Hotspur's Gareth Bale and Liverpool's Luis Suarez, however one of Ancelotti's first jobs may be to sanction a few transfers out of the club to create the funds for future moves.

Striker Gonzalo Higuain has spoken of his desire to leave the club and his father admitted on Sunday that the player was close to reaching an agreement with both Arsenal and Juventus.

French champions Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday confirmed the appointment of Laurent Blanc as coach, with the former national team manager signing a two-year contract.

The television channel BeInSport, also owned by the club's Qatari owners, let the cat out of the bag last Friday, announcing an "agreement" between the Paris side and Blanc.

"Paris Saint-Germain is delighted to announce the appointment of Laurent Blanc as coach for the next two years. He will take charge of the squad on 1 July 2013 for the start of pre-season training," the club said on psg.fr.

"The Board of Paris Saint-Germain has given Laurent Blanc the mission to build on last season and to continue the club's ascendency towards the summits of the European game," it added.

A news conference would be held "soon", the club stated.

Laurent Blanc. Pic/AFP

The French Ligue 1 winners' announcement came just moments before Real Madrid said that Carlo Ancelotti would take over from Jose Mourinho at the Bernabeu.

Blanc, 47, has been out of a job since leaving his role in charge of the French national team following their disappointing quarter-final exit at Euro 2012.

The former defender, who won the World Cup with France in 1998, has previously had professional coaching experience at Bordeaux from 2007-2010, leading them to the Ligue 1 title in 2009.

PSG begin their their title defence against the 2011/12 champions Montpellier and are likely to be challenged by newly promoted Monaco, who have spent heavily since winning Ligue 2, and perennial rivals Marseille.

The capital club last year made it to the quarter-finals of the Champions League but were beaten on aggregate by the Spanish champions Barcelona.

Their progression -- and first domestic title in 19 years -- was seen as a sign of a return on their investment.

But a question mark remains over star player Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who said in May that he may not stay at PSG if Ancelotti left.

The Sweden international has two years to run on his contract.
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