The transformations of Claudio Giráldez, the manager at the helm of Celta Vigo

There is nothing more subjective than reality. While many might have seen a springboard, Claudio Giráldez saw nothing but a dead end. For years, the 38-year-old Celta Vigo manager seemed destined to pick up the pieces at the bottom of the table. The right man in the wrong place. And vice versa.

Born in O Porriño, a small Galician town with just over twenty thousand inhabitants, he began playing football as a left-back. At the age of 13, he made a name for himself during the Vigo Cup. So much so that Real Madrid signed him. He arrived at the Casa Blanca in the same year as Zinedine Zidane. Except that their talents were not exactly comparable. During his time as a trainee, he trained with the first team. He learnt from Robben, Roberto Carlos, Raúl and Ronaldo ‘The Phenomenon’. The young player, however, was not particularly keen on leading the life of an athlete. He did not pay much attention to his diet, did not go to the gym, and did not seem eager to stand out. When he played, he relied solely on his left foot and his ability to read the game – qualities that are not particularly extraordinary. In Madrid, he played just one match – for Castilla, the reserve side. He took to the pitch against Celta Vigo, the club he supported. Then he realised he wasn’t happy. He left Real and joined Atlético. Things didn’t improve, however; in fact, they took a turn for the worse. Claudio was homesick, especially since his father had died. So he decided to retrace his steps, from the centre to the fringes of football and of Spain. He played in the lower leagues with Pontevedra, Ourense, Coruxo and Porriño Industrial. The wages were low. Far too low. And his club lacks the resources to set up a structured organisation. So Giráldez takes on practically every role related to football: he sells sports injury insurance policies, secures scholarships for student-athletes to study in the United States, and works for an online sports portal. At the same time, he is actively involved with Porriño. He seeks out sponsors, designs the kits, organises the fixtures and attends meetings with parents. But he is also a fitness coach, analyst, assistant manager, sporting director and club official. At the age of 31, he realises that the time has come to bring down the curtain on his football career. At least as a player.

He immediately began coaching Gran Peña. Then, in 2021, a phone call changed his life. The voice on the other end of the line told him that ‘his’ Celta wanted him as youth team coach. From there, his rise was meteoric. In 2022, he was promoted to coach of Celta Fortuna, his club’s reserve team. The team finished fifth in the local Serie C. For the club’s centenary season in 2023, Celta signed Rafa Benítez—the man who had won one Champions League and two Europa Leagues—on a three-year contract. It seemed like the start of a dream, but it turned into a nightmare: the manager was sacked in March 2024. Celta are in seventeenth place, on the brink of relegation to Serie B. A new manager is needed. The club cannot afford to splash out, so they consider promoting Giráldez. But there is a problem. Claudio has a verbal agreement for the following season with Levante. The call of his favourite club is too strong. He apologises (according to some newspapers, he even pays a penalty) and takes his place in the dugout. They finished the season in thirteenth place. Then, over the following two seasons, they finished seventh (taking the club back into European competition after almost 10 years) and then sixth. But, above all, he moulded the club in his own image. In a game dominated by the transfer market, he stakes everything on the youth academy. Talent must not be bought, but nurtured. All Celta teams, from the under-10s right up to the professionals, must play with the same formation and the same philosophy. This serves to create an identity. “I want Celta to be Celta,” he repeats. It is the tenet that underpins his entire philosophy. Giráldez does not reveal the line-up to anyone.

In the last 55 matches, he has changed the line-up 55 times. So much so that the fans have invented a game called: ‘Think like Giráldez’. ‘I wouldn’t be able to guess it myself either,’ admitted Claudio. At the moment, Celta are ninth with 1 win and 5 draws from 8 matches. This inconsistency is not yet a major problem, as Giraldez’s philosophy—the coach who claims to change his jacket on the bench depending on the opposition—remains compelling even in defeat. In August 2024, after losing 4–3 in the 100th minute against Villarreal, Borja Iglesias said: “If we have to lose, so be it.” Amen.