Malaga appoints Juande Ramos as manager

Malaga announced the appointment of Juande Ramos as its new manager Friday after the former Tottenham and Real Madrid coach put pen to paper on a three-year contract with the south coast club.

The agreement is designed to keep Ramos on the touchline at La Rosaleda Stadium until 2019.

It also comes just days after former manager Javi Garcia revealed his intentions to leave Malaga shortly after the Liga season, in which the club finished just outside of a European berth in eighth place.

Ramos is no stranger to the area following his one-year stint at Malaga more than a decade ago, which the Spanish boss remembers fondly.

"When you've been in a city like Malaga, it's difficult to forget your experience," he told the team's website. Last time, the situation was different. The reason for coming back is because I have some lasting memories, and the project is very interesting to me. I therefore decided to accept this great project, which I hope the Malaguistas and everyone in Malaga will enjoy."

Ramos added that the club didn't have to do much to convince him to take the job, saying the team's ambitions line up well with his own.

"From a personal aspect, I'm very attached to Malaga. I'm been here frequently, I know the area, have many friends and a great relationship with people at the Club, so it was very easy to convince me.

"Professionally speaking, I have talked to those in charge at the club, they want to achieve important goals, and within the short to medium term, we will improve a great deal. And we want to compete with the greats. They are extremely ambitious within this Club, and that is really the reason for coming to Malaga."