Jonatan Giráldez close to coaching Olympique Lyonnais
Sources close to the situation confirm that Jonatan Giráldez, current coach of the Washington Spirit, is in advanced talks to take over as head coach of Olympique Lyonnais, one of the most important clubs in France.
Both Spirit and Olympique Lyonnais, eight-time European champion and recently renamed from Olympique Lyonnais, are owned by Michele Kang.
The Olympique Lyonnais is looking for a new coach, as Joe Montemurro will leave the team to become the head coach of the Australian women’s national team. Michele Kang, owner of the Washington Spirit, Olympique Lyonnais, and England’s London City Lionesses, has expressed her intention to add a fourth club to her growing ownership portfolio. Kang has assured that she will not use the multi-club model to transfer players between teams.Giráldez joined the Washington Spirit last year, after having led Barcelona to the conquest of the UEFA Champions League. In his first season, he guided the Spirit to a second-place finish in the regular season and a runner-up finish in the NWSL championship.I am not going to steal the best players from one team to give them to another.
Michele Kang
Adrián González, who was the interim coach of Spirit last spring, could be Giráldez’s successor.
During his time at Barcelona, Giráldez won league titles in each of his three seasons as coach and conquered the UEFA Champions League in 2023 and 2024. In 2022, his team was runner-up, losing the final against Lyon.
