Nigerian rising youngster Samuel Chukwueze will begin to work with a new manager starting from Monday, December 10, 2018 after his Spanish club Villareal replaced manager Javi Calleja with Luis Garcia Plaza.
Calleja was relieved on Monday morning after Saturday’s 2-3 home loss to Celta Vigo in the LaLiga left the club hovering above the relegation zone.
The club have also moved swiftly to name a replacement, in Garcia Plaza who will be in charge of the team till the end of the 2018/19 football season.
The coach who will return to the club for the second time, after spending the 2005/06 season in charge of Villarreal B, joins the Yellows, alongside his coaching staff Pedro Rostoll (assistant manager), Eduardo Domínguez (fitness coach) and Raúl Gallego (analyst).
Under former coach Calleja, Chukwueze rose to prominence, starting the Yellow Submarine’s last five league matches, scoring his first two LaLiga goals in the process. He was however substituted in the 55th minute on Saturday with his replacement, Carlos Bacca scoring two late goals which were still not enough to prevent the loss to Celta.
“García Plaza will get down to work immediately, taking his first training session this afternoon, at 6pm CET at the Villarreal CF Training Ground (Ciudad Deportiva).
“After meeting his players for the first time, the new manager will be presented in the press room at the Training Ground (7:30pm CET),” read a club statement on Monday evening.
However easy it looks on paper, the first task before Garcia Plaza will be to ensure Villarreal’s progress to the next stage of the UEFA Europa League when they host Russian side Spartak Moscow on Thursday. Villarreal need just a draw to be sure of progression to the round of 32.
Villarreal’s next LaLiga game will be away to bottom of the table Huesca on Sunday at the Estadio El Alcoraz.
