Alaves have confirmed the appointment of former Leganes and Real Sociedad Coach Asier Garitano to replace Abelardo Fernandez.
Garitano took charge of Leganes in 2013 and went on to guide them from Segunda B – the third tier of Spanish football – to La Liga for the first time ever, before leaving last summer to join La Real.
However, he struggled in the Basque Country and was dismissed in December after four successive defeats left the club in 15th position.
Abelardo took over at Alaves in December 2017 and worked wonders at the Vitoria-based club, initially leading them to safety before an 11th-place finish this season.
Alaves were holding a top five spot until November and were challenging for a European place until early spring, and only slipped out of the top half of the table on the final day.
Abelardo has been linked with replacing the outgoing Quique Setien at Real Betis while recent reports in Marca have suggested he could replace Luis Enrique, who has an ongoing family problem, as Spain boss.
