Preciado dies following heart attack

Manolo Preciado has passed away Wednesday at the age of 54 after suffering a heart attack in his hotel room in Valencia.

The former Sporting Gijon trainer was appointed as Villarreal’s new coach earlier in the day, and was due to be presented to the press and public on Friday.

Preciado played for clubs such as Racing Santander, Linares, Mallorca, Alaves, Ourense and Gimnastica during his active career, before becoming a coach at the club where he retired.

The El Astillero-born coach most notably worked for Sporting Gijon, where he was the man in charge from 2006 until earlier this year, steering them to La Liga in his second year in charge.

Preciado was dismissed as Sporting boss, but was set to re-launch his coaching career at Villarreal in the 2012-13 campaign.