Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has given a state of the nation speech to welcome in the new year, and to celebrate his contract extension until 2026. After months of speculation over his future, Ancelotti signed a new two-year deal in December to secure his future for the time being.
For the Italian coach, the players are a central part of the reason he was remaining at the club.
“I have renewed because the team has been successful in past years and this year it is also having success. The club sees that there is a good atmosphere between us and this is very important because without a good relationship between the coach and the players the club cannot be successful. Obviously, I thank the club for the renewal, but also the players, who are showing an extraordinary attitude,” he told RMTV, as quoted by Cadena Cope.
What makes Los Blancos special to Ancelotti is the relationships and the working environment.
“For me, Real Madrid is, above all, a family. The atmosphere that this club generates around it is very familial, starting with the president. Each of us gets the best out of ourselves because we work in a family environment.”
Indeed, he considers Florentino Perez the patriarch in that regard.
“I consider him a family man and a man who in football has achieved what no one has been able to achieve. He continues to maintain a very strong motivation because he is the number one fan of this club. He has been since he was little and this allows him to have a special love for this shirt. It keeps the club at the top. What he has done in the last 20 years is quite significant for Real Madrid, just like Santiago Bernabeu was in the 1950s era.”
The Real Madrid stadium, currently being renovated, is of course named after their former president, and Perez recently had the training facilities named after him.
“I would like to coach the team when they inaugurate the new Bernabeu. With this renewal I can believe that the day this team plays its first game in the new Bernabeu I will be on the bench. That, for me, is good.”
He was also optimistic looking forward.
“This club has a future. The past is already written and we are writing the present. Above all, it has a future with a very young squad and very talented players. The future of this club is going to be successful, as the past was and the present is. With the generation of new footballers that are coming through, Madrid’s future is going to be very successful.”
Few would have foreseen Ancelotti signing a deal to remain at the club for five years, as he nears the completion of his third in charge. Carletto was initially not in mind for the job when he took over, following the exit of Zinedine Zidane. Having a general conversation about the job, Ancelotti suggested that he could do it – and with their alternatives unavailable or unable to agree to a deal, he was given a second opportunity to coach at the Bernabeu.
Image via Oscar J. Barroso / AFP7 / Europa Press
