The Frenchman resigned as Real Madrid manager in a shock announcement, days after leading them to their third consecutive title.
Zinedine Zidane has left Real Madrid after being in charge of the club since 2016. He announced his shock resignation only five days after leading the club to Champions League glory. The Frenchman was the first manager to win three consecutive Champions League titles.
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez also registered his shock at the announcement. “After winning the Champions League, the decision was unexpected. It is a sad day for me, the fans and the players,” Perez said.
Zinedine Zidane won 9 trophies during his tenure at Real Madrid, which lasted three seasons. During his time at Real, he didn’t lose a single cup final. Filling the Frenchman’s boots will be a very tough task for Real Madrid. theSportsRush takes a look at potential managers who can succeed Zidane at the club:
Mauricio Pochettino
The current Tottenham boss emerges as one of the front-runners for the Real Madrid job. Pochettino’s football is fiery, fast paced and attacking – exactly how Real Madrid plays its own. Replacing Zinedine Zidane is a humongous task. While Pochettino has failed to win silverware with Tottenham, he improved Tottenham’s squad immensely.
Tottenham finished 3rd in this season’s Premier League, above this year’s Champions League finalists Liverpool, and last year’s Premier League champions Chelsea.
Pochettino, however, signed a contract extension with Tottenham recently, which may hamper the move. The Argentine may be expensive for Real Madrid now, but is there anything expensive for the Spanish giants?
More details will await as the speculations about his reported ‘clauses’ in the contract continue.
Maurizio Sarri
The Italian manager is heavily linked with Chelsea, and while most reports suggest that he is the favourite to replace Conte at Stamford Bridge, the recent development at Real Madrid might change things.
Sarri’s Napoli posed a serious challenge to Juventus’ long run of winning the Serie A. While Napoli lost to Juventus in the end, finishing four points behind the champions at 2nd, Sarri received a lot of credit for reviving Napoli this season.
Massimiliano Allegri
Allegri’s football might be defensive, which may be a huge cultural shift for Real Madrid. But the Italian has proved his abilities at Juventus, where he joined in 2014, and has since won the Serie A every season with the club.
He also reached the Champions League final on two occasions with Juventus.
In the 2017-18 season, Juventus’ title defence was challenged by Maurizio Sarri’s Napoli, but Allegri overcame the aggressive Italian side in the title decider.
Antonio Conte
The Italian enjoyed success in his very first season in the Premier League, when brought the title to Stamford Bridge. Like Allegri, Conte also maintains a defensive-minded approach in his game, and plays on the counter.
However, Conte revolutionised the game-play in the Premier League with his playing style. Conte revived the Blues after a terrible season in 2015-16, where Chelsea finished 10th in the league.
And finally..
Arsene Wenger
Don’t be surprised. The Frenchman recently said that he had been approached by Real Madrid in the past. And he is not the only one who claims it.
Flortentino Perez has himself talked highly about Arsene Wenger in the past. “”We have always liked the Frenchman and we talked a lot with him. But he feels very responsible of what is going on and of what is going to happen next at Arsenal. He did not want to leave this club which he has given a lot to.” Perez said at a press conference in 2009.
Arsene Wenger brings with himself a vast array of experience in European football. He has been central to development of various youth players into footballing superstars.
Perez’s fondness in the Frenchman is the reason Wenger has emerged as a favourite to replace Zinedine Zidane at Real Madrid.
