Zinedine Zidane is no longer manager of Real Madrid
Good thing Mauricio Pochettino signed that new contract at Tottenham, eh? That’ll stop him being linked with being Zidane’s replacement… won’t it?
No.
Within an hour of Zidane confirming he would leave the Bernabeu after guiding Real to their third consecutive European Cup, speculation suggested Pochettino’s could yet be the man to fill the position.
Not for the first time in recent days, some claimed that the Argentine’s new deal in north London featured a release clause, which would allow him to depart if Real came calling.
Pochettino got a release clause in his new contract
— Tancredi Palmeri (@tancredipalmeri) May 31, 2018
Fortunately for Spurs supporters, it seems such claims are wide of the mark. Only on Wednesday, Football.London reported that the club had confirmed that Pochettino’s new contract contained no such clause.
Not that this is likely to put things to bed, of course. Florentino Perez has proven on numerous occasions that he’s willing to part with lots of money if it means getting a player he wants and the prospect of paying big to get the right manager is unlikely to put him off.
That said, with cheaper alternatives available, perhaps talk of a Pochettino move to Madrid is a bit of a stretch for now.
The 46-year-old arrived at Spurs four years ago after a season with Southampton. Widely regarded as one of the best young managers in the game, reports had suggested last week that a clause in his contract would allow him to speak to Real and Paris Saint-Germain, the club at which he was a player between 2001 and 2003.
Zidane took charge of Real midway through the 2015/16 season, replacing Rafa Benitez. He ended that season by becoming the seventh man to win the Champions League as a player and a manager, guiding the team to a penalty shootout win over Atletico Madrid in Milan. The next season he won another European Cup – Real beating Juventus in Cardiff – as well as the La Liga title. Although Real’s team failed to defend their domestic campaign this season, their win over Liverpool in Kiev made them the first club since Bayern Munich in the 1970s to win three European titles on the spin.
