Santiago Solari looks set to be handed the Real Madrid hot seat imminently, as bookmaker Paddy Power suspends betting on the market.
Following a surge of activity on Thursday morning, the Irish bookie made the call to stop accepting bets on who the next permanent manager will be.
Solari's odds dropped to as low as odds-on 4/7 to be given the job before the suspension, with 40% more bets on him than on the next nearest candidate - Arsene Wenger.
The 42-year-old has been in charge since Julen Lopetegui was sacked last week following an awful start to the season.
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Lopetegui only picked up 14 points in La Liga from a possible 30 and a 5-1 thumping against Barcelona was the final straw for the Madrid board.
Solari, who was the sides B team manager, has since led Madrid to a 4-0 victory in the Copa del Rey, a 2-0 win in the league and a 5-0 thrashing over Plzen in the Champions League last night.
Similar to Zinedine Zidane, who won three Champions League in a row with Madrid, Solari played for the Spanish giants for five years.
Spokesman Paddy Power said: "The odds of Solari to take his role from temporary to permanent have plummeted over the last 12 hours, and not just because of the 5-0 win last night.
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"Our traders reported a huge increase in bets on him to put pen to paper officially, and that cash is coming from savvy punters. The sheer weight and location of the money coming in has us convinced that an announcement is imminent."
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