Zidane has been widely rumoured to be close to a move to Old Trafford, but reports suggest he isn’t interested
Jose Mourinho is struggling. Boy howdy is he struggling. He stubbed his toe getting up out of bed this morning, he burned his toast, he bit his tongue while chewing on some gum in the afternoon, all on top of the fact that the media is continually linking him with the exit door at Manchester United.
The links are understandable to be fair, since Jose’s Manchester United side are about as uninspiring and uninspired as any major team in world football at the moment, and, if the rumours are to be believed, he has also fallen out with at least one key member of his squad.
With things looking increasingly negative for the former Chelsea coach, it is no surprise that Zinedine Zidane – three-time Champions League winner as manager of Real Madrid – is being linked with the job.
It makes plenty of sense. Zidane is a modern manager who – despite not having a truly clear tactical ethos – has shown himself capable of managing some of the biggest egos in football.
However, despite the reasons why it would make sense, French website Le Parisien has claimed that the Frenchman has no interest in taking over from Mourinho and would much rather return to Juventus, the club where he played his football before moving to Real Madrid.
According to the report, one of Zidane’s key aims for his sabbatical year is to spend as much time with his family before returning to management ahead of next season, which would suggest that a mid-season appointment is off the table.
United’s potential interest is also impacted by the fact that Zidane does not actually speak English which – while not something which has stopped managers from succeeding in the past – is obviously not ideal.
Much of this remains conjecture and Zidane will have much to think about should a concrete offer emerge, and the chance to return one of football’s biggest clubs to its former status may eventually be too alluring, but as it stands it would seem that Manchester is not on Zizou’s horizon.
