CA Osasuna have sacked manager Luis Miguel Ramis after just eight La Liga matches and immediately reappointed former boss Jagoba Arrasate on a contract running until June 2029, the club confirmed on Monday.
The decision came less than 24 hours after Sunday's 5-2 thrashing away to Real Betis left Osasuna 16th in the La Liga table with only eight points. Ramis, who took over in July, won just twice in his brief tenure and oversaw four defeats in the last five matches, during which the Navarrese side conceded 17 goals, according to Reuters.
It is a ruthless call, but one that fits a growing pattern at El Sadar — and the board moved fast to install a familiar face rather than gamble on another unknown.
Eight games and out
Ramis arrived this summer as the latest attempt to bring stability to a club that has churned through coaches since Arrasate's first departure. But the project never got going. After a ragged display in Seville, the club's board concluded there was no time to wait for a turnaround with the relegation zone looming.
The club issued a public statement thanking Ramis and his departing staff — José Manuel Gil, Iván Madroño, Miguel Ángel Fernández and José Fajardo — all of whom were also relieved of their duties. "COMUNICADO OFICIAL | Luis Miguel Ramis no continuará como entrenador de Osasuna," the club posted on social media.
Osasuna's patience has been famously short in recent years. Football España reported on the club's revolving door back in May when Alessio Lisci was dismissed after a single season, making Ramis the latest in a line of short-lived successors alongside Vicente Moreno — none of whom, per Flashscore, lasted more than a season after Arrasate's exit.
Arrasate's second coming
If there is one appointment guaranteed to lift the mood in Pamplona, it is this one. Jagoba Arrasate, 48, returns to El Sadar two years after leaving, during which time he managed Mallorca before his spell there ended in February.
The Basque coach is nothing short of a legend in Pamplona. Across six seasons from 2018 to 2024, he took charge of 256 matches — the second-highest tally by any coach in Osasuna's history. He guided the club back into La Liga, led them to a Copa del Rey final in 2023 — only the second in the club's history — and delivered Conference League qualification in the same season.
Osasuna's official release leaned heavily on that legacy, and the contract speaks for itself: a deal covering the rest of this season plus two more, running until 30 June 2029. That is the club tying down its most trusted manager of the modern era for the long haul, not a stopgap fix.
Arrasate will be formally presented on Tuesday and will once again be joined by trusted assistant Bitor Alkiza, reuniting the partnership that delivered Osasuna's best years in recent memory.
What Arrasate must fix
The new-old manager inherits a side in trouble. Seventeen goals conceded in five matches is a defensive crisis, and the 5-2 collapse at Betis exposed a squad low on confidence and structure. Arrasate's hallmark has always been organisation and intensity — exactly what this group is missing.
The fixture list will not wait, either. Osasuna sit just above the drop zone, and the margin for error that Ramis was denied will be equally thin for his successor. But Arrasate knows this club, this fanbase and these pressures better than anyone available, which is precisely why the board turned to him.
It is a homecoming built for the romance, but the task is brutally practical: stop the goals, steady the ship, and pull Osasuna clear of danger.
Beyond the Final Whistle: Osasuna's decision to sack Luis Miguel Ramis after eight games underlines how little patience remains in modern La Liga, but the swift return of Jagoba Arrasate on a long-term deal until 2029 could be the smartest appointment of the season — if the club hero can rediscover the defensive steel that defined his first spell. Do you think Arrasate will keep Osasuna up this season? Let us know in the comments.
See also our Montella sacking piece.
