Zinedine Zidane resigned as Real Madrid manager yesterday, and the Tottenham boss has emerged as front-runner for the job.
The Frenchman shocked everyone by announcing his resignation as Real Madrid boss yesterday. Zidane won the Champions League for the third consecutive time with Real Madrid on Saturday, becoming the only manager to do so.
While Florentino Perez insisted that Real hasn’t decided on a replacement yet, the speculations have fuelled in the media. According to various reports, Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino is the favourite to replace Zidane at Real Madrid.
However, Times believes that Tottenham will demand a heavy price for Pochettino. The Argentine manager signed a five-year contract with the club only last week. The new deal is worth £8.5 million a year.
According to Times, should Real approach Pochettino, Tottenham are set to demand £42.5m in compensation. The paper also notes that contrary to speculations, the Argentine’s new deal with Tottenham doesn’t include any release clause. There were reports that Pochettino demanded special clause concerning Real Madrid’s job, but the rumours were debunked.
Times says that Tottenham’s chairman Daniel Levy is “confident” that Pochettino would not leave Tottenham. Levy believes that Pochettino’s intends to turn Tottenham into a capable force in Europe. However, Guardian has claimed the opposite.
Also read: Who can replace Zidane at Real Madrid?
The Guardian reports that Pochettino might be tempted by a move to Real Madrid, as the Argentine has formerly managed in Spain. The report says that Pochettino knows the country well, having played and managed in Spain. The Tottenham boss was the manager at Espanyol, where he spend three seasons.
Meanwhile, L’Equipe claims that Zidane could be the successor to Didier Deschamps at France. Deschamps believes that Zidane will “definitely” coach the national side. “When, I cannot say. But it seems logical. It will happen when it happens,” said the current national manager.
