Jonatan Giraldez to leave NWSL’s Washington Spirit for OL Lyonnes, club also owned by Michele Kang, per report

Head coach Jonatan Giraldez is said to leave the Washington Spirit of the NWSL in June to become a member of the France in Ol Lyonnes and one club exchanges owned by the American billionaire Michele Kang for another.

Giraldez is expected to leave the Spirit before or during the summer holidays of the NWSL, which starts with the week of June 23, According to the Washington Post. He will be replaced by Adrian Gonzalez, who is currently an assistant of Giraldez, but the interim head coach of the Spirit was at the beginning of the 2024 season, while Giraldez was three years old to lead Barcelona.

Although the mind is in capable hands with Gonzalez, the departure of Giraldez comes as a surprise. He officially announced his departure from Barcelona in December 2023 because he “received much bigger offers than the one I have now”, with reports that suggest that the Spirit would quadruple his salary. It was a movement that was positioned as a declaration of intent from Kang, who hired one of the most controversial coaches in women’s football Giraldez had two UEFA Women’s Champions League titles to his name against the time he joined the Spirit.

Gonzalez will take the job after the Spirit has reportedly rejected several requests from other NWSL teams to interview him for their vacancies, anticipatory that Giraldez would return to Europe “in the near future”. Giraldez will be back on his home continent, but will work for the same owner – Kang.

He did not officially take over at the Spirit until July last year, but quickly took to the new track and brought the team to the NWSL championship in November before he lost 1-0 to the first winners Orlando Pride. That run to the championship, anchored by MVP candidate Trinity Rodman and Rookie of the year Croix Bethune, was considered the first phase of an ambitious project.

Kang has become one of the most ambitious investors in women’s football in recent years, especially since she became the majority owner of the Spirit in 2022. She then acquires eight-time Champions League winners Ol Lyonnes, known as Olympique Lyonnais as a rebrand earlier this month, and England’s London City Lionesses. All three clubs are under the umbornness of Kynisca Sports International, a company Kang, which was launched in London last year with various other football -related efforts that the billionaire has shown interest in the years.

From Giraldez he is expected to follow Joe Montemurro, who will probably leave after a year in the role of taking the lead over the national team of Australia. Ol Lyonnes won a record-proceeding 18th domestic title this season, but was short of the Champions League and lost in the semi-final of the final winners Arsenal.