Zinedine Zidane revealed that he’d only want to manage three teams in the future: Marseilles, Real Madrid, and France. That’s according to his former Madrid teammate Thomas Gravesen who played with Zizou during the 2004 – 2006 seasons.
“I spoke to Zidane in Madrid two years ago and he told me that there are only three roles that he would like to accept,” Gravesen told Discovery+ in a recent interview.
“And they are Marseille, Madrid and the French team. We were in Madrid two years ago and he told me exactly that. I also asked him if he was willing to coach again. And he told me that there were no possibilities for these three.”
Due to his two straight World Cup final appearances, France has shown no willingness to depart ways with Didier Deschamps. However, a disastrous performance at this summer’s Euros could decide his fate.
Similarly, Carlo Ancelotti continues to thrive at Real Madrid. Los Blancos sit atop La Liga and lead RB Leipzig 1-nil on aggregate in the Round of 16 Champions League. It’s worth noting that Ancelotti only has two Champions League titles at Madrid compared to Zidane’s three as Los Blancos coach. Zizou has also won one more La Liga title than the Don.
At least we can say that Zidane is flattered but probably not interested in the Manchester United job despite minority owner Jim Ratcliffe’s pleas. And Bayern Munich presents a language barrier. The 51-year Frenchman also turned down the Algeria international team last January.
“Why not? Anything can happen,” replied Zidane when recently asked about a coaching return.
“But at the moment I’m doing something else. I am sure that I will return to the bench, I would like to coach again.”
That’s music to every football fan’s ears except to, perhaps, Barcelona.
Photo: x/mufcMPB
