Imanol informed his players this morning in training following last night's tough defeat against Deportivo Alavés that he will not continue. His decision was made official by La Real at 1:00 p.m.
The Orio native brings to an end a great spell of six and a half years, with the Copa del Rey title and five European qualifications, pending a possible further one at the end of this season, as his greatest successes.
Imanol announced a few months ago that he had an offer to renew his contract with Real Sociedad and that he would announce whether he'd accepted it or not by the end of April or the beginning of May.
Among La Real's greats
His decision to depart comes after a tough defeat against Deportivo Alavés at Mendizorroza , which complicates La Real's goal of achieving a sixth European qualification, one of their objectives for the current season.
The other two objectives were to try to reach the Copa del Rey final, something they came close to achieving, and to advance in the Europa League, something they managed until the round of 16, when they were eliminated by Manchester United.
Imanol has been in charge of 334 matches at La Real, a figure that makes him the third highest in the club's history, only behind Benito Díaz (391) and John Benjamin Toshack (386).