Real Madrid legend Zinedine Zidane is reportedly keen on succeeding Jose Mourinho as the manager of Manchester United.
According to reports from French news outlet L’Equipe, former Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane has his eyes set on the Manchester United job, amid reports of unrest between current boss Jose Mourinho and the club hierarchy.
The French legend is one of the most successful managers around, despite having been in the job for just two and a half years only. Having taken over from Rafael Benitez in 2016, Zidane won three consecutive UEFA Champions League trophies with Real, as well as the La Liga title in 2016-17, along with two UEFA Super Cups and two FIFA Club World Cups before leaving the club at the end of last season.
Zidane was strongly linked with the France national team recently, but current manager Didier Deschamps decided to continue in the role after leading Les Bleus to their second FIFA World Cup triumph in Russia this summer. And now, the report claims that the former Real Madrid and Juventus superstar has set his sights on a job in the Premier League and is especially keen on Manchester United.
Mourinho entered his third season in the Old Trafford hotseat this summer, but finds himself in a difficult situation at the club. After having failed to land any silverware last season, the Portuguese is under intense pressure to reinstate Manchester United back to the pinnacle of English football.
However, the new campaign has been surrounded by plenty of negativity following an extremely tumultuous pre-season during which Jose regularly complained about the lack of new signings and made thinly-veiled digs at United’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward. The pair’s relationship is understood to have deteriorated in the past few months.
Mourinho has had a history of imploding in his third season during his previous jobs – he left Chelsea shortly after his third year during his first spell, while he lasted only three seasons at Real Madrid and then left midway through his third campaign in his second stint with Chelsea, after a disastrous start.
Manchester United kicked off the 2018-19 Premier League season with a 2-1 win over Leicester City last Friday. However, the manager has hinted that he doesn’t have the squad to challenge reigning champions Manchester City for the league title.
This sort of continued negativity, coupled with a deteriorating relation with the club hierarchy as well as United’s record signing Paul Pogba, has inevitably led to rumours of a sack. Should Mourinho fail to win any silverware this season, there is a good chance that Manchester United will look to move on. And Zidane would prove to be a risky, but an exciting appointment for the 20-time English champions.
