Pellegrini to take over as Real Betis coach for next two seasons

The Chilean coach Manuel Pellegrini will take over at Real Betis on a two-year deal until 2022 with the option for an additional season, sources close to the appointment have told EFE. 

According to the newspaper ABC in Seville, negotiations between Betis and Pellegrini have been ongoing for three weeks and he will be officially announced as the club's new manager once they are guaranteed to be in La Liga next season. With just four games to go, they're virtually safe already. 

The 'Engineer', as he is known, will take charge of his fourth club in Spain following spells at Villarreal (2004-09), Real Madrid (2009-10) and Málaga (2010-13) before he moved to England to take over Manchester City. 

After helping City win their second Premier League title, he was replaced by Josep Guardiola and moved to China, coaching Hebei Fortune, before returning to England as West Ham coach. He was sacked in December. 

Betis have been looking for a new coach since they sacked Rubi last month. Rubi had only taken over last summer, appointed after steering Espanyol into the Europa League.