Real Madrid assistant manager Paul Clement is set to replace Steve McClaren as Derby County head coach, BBC Derby Sport reports.

McClaren was

sacked on Monday

following constant speculation about taking over at Newcastle, and Derby’s failure to make the Championship play-offs.

Clement, 43, has been number two to Carlo Ancelotti at Real since 2013 but the

Italian was sacked

on Monday.

And Clement is now expected to take up his first managerial role this week.

He began his coaching career with Chelsea in the 1990s and returned to the club in 2007.

Clement started working with the first team under Guus Hiddink in 2009 and then became a prominent figure working with Ancelotti at Chelsea, Paris St-German and Real.

Derby were leading the Championship in late February but won only two out of their last 13 league games and missed out on a play-off place on the final day of the season.

Real won the Spanish Cup and 10th European Cup in the club’s history in the 2013-14 season, but this campaign saw the Spanish giants knocked out of the Champions League semi-finals by Juventus and finish as runners-up to Barcelona in La Liga.

Clement, the son of former QPR defender Dave Clement and brother of ex-Chelsea and West Brom defender Neil, was linked with the QPR manager’s job when

Harry Redknapp left the club in February.