Madrid, June 1 (IANS) Villarreal on Monday confirmed former Rayo Vallecano coach Inigo Perez as their new first-team coach, with the 38-year-old signing a three-year contract until the end of June 2029.
Perez, who retired from playing in 2022, replaces Marcelino Garcia Toral, who left the club at the end of last season despite leading Villarreal to a third-place finish in La Liga behind FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, securing Champions League qualification for the second consecutive season.
He arrives from Rayo Vallecano after just over two seasons in charge, having taken over in February 2024 and guiding the team to safety when it was in danger of relegation.
Rayo qualified for the UEFA Conference League under Perez in the 2024/25 campaign, and he then led the club to a historic European final in the season just concluded, with Rayo suffering a narrow 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace in last week’s final in Leipzig, Germany, reports Xinhua.
Rayo Vallecano also finished the season in a highly respectable eighth place in La Liga despite operating with one of the league’s lowest budgets, further enhancing Perez’s reputation as one of Spain’s best young coaches.
A product of Athletic Bilbao’s youth ranks at Lezama, Perez was born in Pamplona, Navarre, and moved to the reserves in early 2007, although he still spent some more time with Basconia, the farm team. On October 28, 2009, he made his debut for the main squad, starting in a 2–0 Copa del Rey defeat at Rayo Vallecano (4–2 aggregate loss). He first appeared in La Liga two days later, replacing veteran Pablo Orbaiz in a 1–0 home win against Atlético Madrid.
Pérez retired at the end of 2021–22 at the age of 34, having made 85 official appearances during his spell at the El Sadar. Subsequently, he joined the coaching staff of his former Athletic teammate, Andoni Iraola, at Rayo Vallecano.
While Iraola moved to Bournemouth in the Premier League in the summer of 2023, Pérez returned to Rayo Vallecano as the manager on February 14, 2024, following Francisco’s dismissal. In his first match four days later, his side drew 1–1 at home to Real Madrid.
Pérez led Rayo to the final of the 2025–26 UEFA Conference League, disposing of France’s Strasbourg 2–0 on aggregate in the semi-finals. In the decisive match, however, they lost 1–0 to Crystal Palace. But the performance was enough for Villarreal to confirm Perez as their new first-team coach.
–IANS
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