Middlesbrough hires ex-Madrid assistant as manager

Published Nov. 13, 2013 8:57 a.m. ET

foxsports

Former Real Madrid defender Aitor Karanka has accepted his first senior job in football management by taking over as coach of second-tier English club Middlesbrough.

The former Spain international signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with the northeast club on Wednesday.

Karanka says Jose Mourinho persuaded him to take over at the Riverside, adding that the Chelsea manager ''believes in this project, like me.''

The 40-year-old worked under Mourinho for three years at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

Middlesbrough, 16th in the Championship, last played in the Premier League in 2009.