He may have had the misfortune to be sacked as Spain manager just one day before the start of a World Cup but, confound it, Julen Lopetegui has managed to fall on his feet.
As luck would have it, Real Madrid just so happened to have a similar vacancy going begging and after philanthropic president Florentino Perez extended a charitable hand of friendship, Lopetegui has now gone straight in as the head coach at the Bernabeu.
With emotions at a pitch, the 51-year-old misted up during his grand unveiling at Real on Thursday, confiding in the assembled press that his departure from the national side had been the hardest day of his life since the death of his mother.
It was an emotional day for Julen Lopetegui as he was introduced at Real Madrid the day after being sacked by Spain. pic.twitter.com/jcovO58xhC
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) June 14, 2018
Bless him. All joking aside, it must have been a nothing short of a whirlwind for Lopetegui and everybody involved in the Spanish saga over the past week, which we guess is precisely what Perez had planned all along.
With the chaos finally subsiding, he emerges with exactly what he wanted… again.
Mad to think that same chap was rejected by Wolverhampton Wanderers just two years ago.
Utterly mad, we tells ye.