Championship side Derby Country have earmarked Real Madrid assistant manager Paul Clement for the manager’s role should Steve McLaren leave in the summer.
Clement, who has worked alongside Carlo Ancelotti at Los Blancos for the last couple of seasons, have been linked with a move back to the UK for a while and has made no secret of his desire to one day become a manager.
Madrid-based daily, AS, says representatives from the Midlands club have been in touch with Clement to sound out his interest in the role, should it become available. Current boss McLaren, who managed England for a year between 2007 and 2008, has been strongly linked with a move to Newcastle United, who are expected to get rid of interim boss John Carver.
Clement, a former PE teacher, has worked alongside Ancelotti in three different leagues. The pair met when the Italian was at Chelsea, and he took the Englishman with him to PSG, where they masterminded the club’s first Ligue 1 title triumph in 18 years. And at Real Madrid, the Ancelotti and Clement have enjoyed even greater success, steering the club to wins in the Champions League, Copa del Rey, European Supercup and Club World Cup.
With Ancelotti’s future up in the air following the failure to lift the league or Champions League this season though, Clement may decide the time is right for a new challenge.
