Madrid, May 25 (IANS): Spanish La Liga club Real Sociedad has announced the appointment of Asier Garitano as their new first team coach.
The 48-year-old has signed a three-year contract which will keep him at the head of the San Sebastian based club until the end of June 2021, reports Xinhua news agency.
Garitano joins Real Sociedad after five years at Leganes, which he took from the third tier 'Segunda B' to the Liga Santander and consolidated the small club from the south of Madrid in the Spanish top flight.
He is from the Basque region of Guipuzkoa, which is home to Real Sociedad, and began his football career as a player in the youth system of 'La Real's' big rivals, Athletic Club Bilbao (with whom he had also been linked as a future coach). The move can be seen as a homecoming for the coach.
"I know where I am coming, I know where I am from and that the club has signed me so we can compete with the best," said Garitano, who admitted he had supported the club ever since he was young.
