Problems for Florentino Pérez, Villarreal are after this Real Madrid star

Villarreal have had a bad start to the 2023/24 La Liga season. In their first 4 games they have just one win, 1-0 against Mallorca on August 18. The other 3 games were defeats (2-1 vs. Real Betis, 4-3 vs. Barcelona and 3-1 vs. Cadiz). As a result, with only 3 points out of a possible 12, they are in 15th place in the standings and are closer to the relegation zone than to qualifying for international tournaments, which is the goal they set themselves.

This situation forced the club's chiefs to take a difficult decision: they fired coach Quique Setién, who left with a message that, among other things, said: "I am grateful to Villarreal CF for having given me the opportunity to work for the club, and especially to all the employees who treated us on a daily basis as if we were family".

Now the Spanish side are in need of a replacement and have targeted a Real Madrid star. According to Marca, they called Raul Gonzalez and offered him the job. The former striker was one of the club's most important players between the 1990s and 2000s, scoring 323 goals and winning 16 titles.

Since 2019 he has been the coach of the subsidiary team, Real Madrid Castilla, who play in the third division of Spain. There he has had good results and last season they were close to achieving promotion to the second division. Now that he has received the call from Villarreal, he has communicated it to the club's chiefs and together they will make the decision they think is the most appropriate.

He is not the only one in the running

In addition to Raúl González, Villarreal are interested in other coaches. Julen Lopetegui was one of the first alternatives, but now it seems almost ruled out. Pacheta, who managed Valladolid this year, and Quique Sanchez Flores, former manager of Atlético Madrid, are some of the options.