Stockport County’s Andy Mangan will not join Carlo Ancelotti’s coaching staff at Real Madrid as planned after being denied a work permit.
The 38-year-old, who has been working as an assistant coach with the League One club since July, was identified as the club looks to freshen up the Italian’s backroom team.
An agreement was reached for him to move to the Spanish capital to take up a position but a work permit has not been granted.
Ancelotti has been looking for an English coach with experience in the English Football League (EFL).
Mangan undertook his coaching course alongside Ancelotti’s son, Davide, who is currently an assistant manager at Madrid, and enjoys a close relationship with him.
In their intention to continue to improve and modernise, Real has hired young nutritionist Alberto Valino from this season in a decision taken by the club’s medical department, not Ancelotti.
As a player Mangan made more than 300 appearances across England’s third, fourth, and fifth tiers in his playing career, representing the likes of Fleetwood Town, Wrexham and Tranmere Rovers.
His coaching career has taken him through a number of English clubs. He joined Fleetwood’s first-team coaching staff in 2019 before following Joey Barton to Bristol Rovers in 2021, where he took on the role of first-team coach.
Mangan also had a brief stint as caretaker manager at Bristol Rovers in late 2023, before joining Stockport as an assistant coach where he has a focus on developing the team’s attackers.
Real Madrid return to action following the international break away at Real Sociedad.
(Pete Norton/Getty Images)
