Southampton Football Club have today confirmed that Mauricio Pellegrino is to be the team’s new manager ahead of the 2017/18 season.
Twitter: #SaintPellegrino
We are delighted to announce Mauricio Pellegrino as #SaintsFC’s new First Team Manager! https://t.co/k2w11DBvvY (@SouthamptonFC)
Pellegrino joins on a three-year contract and will begin preparations for the coming campaign in the near future, with the players returning for pre-season shortly.
The Argentinian manager left Deportivo Alavés in the summer and was expected to return to his homeland based on personal reasons, but it appears as though these matters have been resolved and Pellegrino will now look to succeed in his first stint as a manager in England.
Pellegrino led Alavés from relegation candidates to a ninth-placed finish in La Liga, along with taking them to a Copa Del Rey final, where they lost out to Barcelona.
The appointment is something of a surprise, and a left-field one at that, but Pellegrino is the man that has taken over from Claude Puel, whose exit was recently confirmed by the club.
Saints’ new boss worked under Rafa Benitez as a first-team coach at Liverpool, whilst also working alongside the club’s former assistant manager Sammy Lee under the Spaniard’s leadership.
