Santiago Solari named as new Club America head coach.

Club America has named ex Real Madrid coach Santiago Solari as their new head coach, who will be replacing Miguel Herrera. Solari, an ex Argentine international, played in Mexico with Atlante after having a great in Europe where he played in Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, and Inter Milan. As a head coach Solari mostly coached the youth teams at Real Madrid before coming in as a caretaker coach for Julen Lopetegui before getting the position full time.

Santiago Solari is the son of Eduardo Solari, a part of a football family. His Uncle Jorge “El Indio” Solari is a famous player and coach and coached Club America. Eduardo also was a player and coach and coached teams in Mexico like Atlas and Monterrey. Santiago came up through River Plate and was good enough to make the move to Europe where he then moved on to Atletico Madrid. After the team was relegated, he moved on to Real Madrid where he played for five years and although he wasn’t a starter, he played enough minutes to have an impact with the team. Later he moved to Inter where he won many titles but wasn’t a starter either before returning to Argentina. He eventually moved to Atlante, where he was part of the team that played the Club World Cup. His final club was Peñarol in Uruguay. Santiago would move on to coaching and would start in Real Madrid’s youth system before moving on to Real Madrid B. When Coach Julen Lopetegui was fired as a coach, Solari took the main job as a caretaker before officially becoming coach. As coach he won the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup when they defeated Al Ain in the final with a score of 4-1. Solari was fired after the notable elimination by Ajax in the Champions League which led to the return of current coach Zinedine Zidane.

The Solari signing is a notable one for Club America. While there was talk of candidates ranging from Robert Dante Siboldi to ex Spanish NT coach Roberto Moreno, Solari is a high profile coach who returns to action after being the last coach of Real Madrid prior to Zidane. It might be a tough situation for him if America doesn’t get signings to compete but at least they have a big name as a coach and a serious candidate to have a long tenure in the club.