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English Premier League relegation fighting Swansea City AFC earlier today announced Paul Clement as the club’s new head coach as the 44-year-old signed a two-and-a-half-year deal after leaving his position as assistant manager at Bundesliga giants FC Bayern Munich.
Joining Clement at the Liberty Stadium are Nigel Gibbs and Karl Halabi, who arrive from Tottenham Hotspur. Gibbs has been confirmed as assistant coach, with the 51-year-old leaving his role within Tottenham’s academy while he has previously worked as the No.2 at Reading, Leeds and Millwall.
Halabi, meanwhile, has been named head of physical performance. Halabi has also worked with Gibbs at Reading and Spurs, while he also spent time with Watford, Chelsea and Derby along with both England and Ireland’s national set ups. He takes up the position vacated by Pierre Barrieu, who left the Swans following Bob Bradley’s exit last week.
As the former assistant manager of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Chelsea, Clement arrives at the Swans with a wealth of experience at the highest level of club football.
Born in Reading, the 44-year-old began his career as a coach at the Chelsea Academy before moving to London rivals Fulham, where he also worked in the youth set up, either side of a short spell with Republic of Ireland Under-21s.
Clement returned to Chelsea in 2007, working at Stamford Bridge as a coach before being appointed as assistant to Ancelotti for the first time two years later. At Chelsea, he helped the Blues win the Premier League title before spending a brief spell with Blackburn Rovers during the 2012-13 campaign.
Clement was reunited with Ancelotti at Paris Saint-Germain in 2012, whom he helped win the French Ligue 1 title, before following him to Real Madrid in 2013. Ancelotti and Clement helped the Spanish giants win the Copa Del Rey and their tenth UEFA Champions League title in their first season with the club.
His success at the highest level of football earned him the job as Derby County manager in 2015, replacing former England boss Steve McClaren at the helm.
Despite securing 14 wins in 33 matches in charge of the Rams – drawing 12 games and losing just seven – Clement was relieved of his duties in February 2016.
Derby were in fifth place in the Championship at the time of Clement’s dismissal – just five points adrift of leaders Hull, whom they would eventually lose to in the play-off semifinal that season.
In June 2016, Clement once again linked up with Ancelotti at Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich. Up until his move to the Liberty, Clement had helped the German giants rise to the top of the Bundesliga, having lost just one game so far this season.
