‘Never say never’ is a popular saying that is well worth bearing in mind, especially in football where one never knows what is going to happen from one day to the next.
Former Real Madrid football legend and head coach blessed with an uncanny knack for winning consecutive Champions League trophies, Zinedine Zidane, is now allegedly broadening his scope increasingly to maintain an openness to replacing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Manchester United. With that new perspective, it seems there is now only one major obstacle still remaining, according to reports.
Having endured a difficult start to the season, the Red Devils were only able to pick up just four points from the last 18 available in their last six Premier League outings, which all added to the ominous spectacle of dark clouds forming a massive question mark over the future of Solskjaer. Despite United’s obdurate board still believed to be backing the increasingly beleaguered Norwegian, they have now apparently drawn up a wishlist of potential replacements in the event they really need to consign their head coach to the guillotine.
A stiff run of games is up next for Solskjaer right after the international break, including away trips to engage Villarreal and Chelsea before a n impressively on-form Arsenal visit the Theater of Dreams at the start of December.
As of now, there are three main names looming conspicuously to replace Solskjaer should his squad’s form continue to degenerate – Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers, Ajax head coach Erik ten Hag and out-of-work Zinedine Zidane.
Among the three, the Frenchman is, on paper at least, the most available/attainable as he is currently without out of a job having voluntarily resigned from his post at Real Madrid end of last season. The only glitch is that he has previously been reluctant to take over at Old Trafford.
However a report has surfaced, via the Daily Record, that United intermediaries have supposedly made some progress in their attempts to persuade the former Los Blancos boss to replace Solskjaer.
Zidane is increasingly ‘attracted’ to the prospect of taking over the reins, particularly with the squad boasting two of his old Madrid charges in Cristiano Ronaldo and Raphael Varane as well as a player he has long coveted: compatriot Paul Pogba.
United are hopeful the strength of their squad – and the presence of two of his Madrid generals – will overcome any reservations Zidane has, which includes his limited grasp of English.
But one rather large obstacle still remains, with Zidane’s wife, Veronique, not attracted to the idea of living in Manchester and she would prefer that her husband takes a longer break before returning to football.
That would also tie into Zidane’s dream of eventually taking over from Didier Deschamps as the France manager following the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, while the PSG job is also something that would appeal to him.