Porto appoint former Spain Under-21 manager Julen Lopetegui

Portuguese club FC Porto have appointed former Spain Under-21 boss Julen Lopetegui as their new manager.

The 2012-13 Primeira Liga champions will end the current season without silverware, and club president Pinto da Costa admitted that the 47-year-old was his first choice to turn things around.

"Spanish football is perhaps the best league in the world, and it is not by chance that three of the four finalists in European competitions are from Spain," Da Costa is quoted as saying by Sky Sports News.

"Lopetegui is my first, my second and my third option. I did not give him any margin to say no."

Lopetegui, who has played for Real Madrid, Barcelona and the Spanish national team, previously guided Spain's Under-19s and Under-21s to European Championship victories.