Ryan Giggs gets his first permanent management job with Wales

This will be Giggs’ first permanent job in management.

Ryan Giggs gets his first permanent management job with Wales

Ryan Giggs is the new manager of Wales.

The 44-year-old former Manchester United winger was pictured in a social media post from the Football Association of Wales.

Giggs has been the clear favourite for the role since he declared his interest in the job last month, saying: ’’I’ve played for Wales and I’ve said that I want to go back into coaching.

’’Obviously that is one of the top jobs.’’

This will be Giggs’ first permanent job in management, although he was in interim charge at Manchester United for four games at the end of the 2013-14 season after David Moyes was sacked.

Giggs was interviewed for the Wales job last week, as was his former international team-mate Craig Bellamy and Osian Roberts, who was Chris Coleman’s former assistant and the FAW’s technical director.

Former Wales defender Mark Bowen was also interviewed after leaving his role as Stoke’s assistant manager a few days earlier.

Giggs’ contract, which Press Association Sport understands will take in the Euro 2020 and 2022 World Cup campaigns, was tied up over the weekend.

The FAW was keen to make the appointment before the UEFA Nations League draw, which takes place in Switzerland on January 24.

Giggs, who won 64 Wales caps between 1991 and 2007, has been out of football for 18 months since leaving the coaching staff at Manchester United.

He spent two seasons as Louis van Gaal’s assistant coach, but he left Old Trafford in the summer of 2016 following Jose Mourinho’s appointment as manager.

That ended a long association with the club where he made a record 963 appearances as a player, scoring 168 goals.

Coleman spent nearly six years as Wales manager before leaving to take over Sky Bet Championship strugglers Sunderland in November.

He became the most successful manager in Welsh football history when he guided the country to the semi-finals of Euro 2016 - Wales’ first major tournament for 58 years.

But Coleman’s departure came on the back of Wales failing to qualify for this summer’s World Cup in Russia.

Giggs, whose first game in charge of Wales will be against China in Nanning on March 22, said in a statement: "I am so proud to have been given the honour of managing the national team.

"The challenges that we have ahead of us with the Nations League and qualification for Euro 2020 excite me a great deal.

"I can’t wait to start working with the players as we prepare for those crucial games later in the year."

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