Who could replace Zidane at Madrid?

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This afternoon Zinedine Zidane announced that he is leaving Real Madrid, but who can fill the boots of the man who has won three consecutive Champions League titles? DEAN WORKMAN explores.

Replacing Zidane will seem like an almost impossible task for Real Madrid president Florentino Perez.

Not only has Zidane been unimaginably successful at the club, cementing his status as a Madrid icon both as a player and manager, the current climate of world football pertains that there are not too many high-profile managers available to choose from.

Winning trophies is a prerequisite for any manager coming into the club and being able to achieve this at a club the size of the 13-time European Champions, with the pressures that comes with it, is not a task all can live up to. We only have to look back to 2016, where Rafa Benitez enjoyed a torrid half-season, to see the negative effect of appointing the wrong man.

When taking a look through world football only a few managers fit the bill of a Real Madrid manager, and worryingly for Perez even fewer are currently without a job.

While attracting managers who are currently employed is by no means out of Madrid’s reach. Zidane’s decision has come as such a shock to the club that they would not have likely thought of a potential successor, leaving them for little time to negotiate with any managers who are in a job.

Mauricio Potchettino at Tottenham Hotspurs or Massimiliano Allegri at Juventus have already been touted as potential replacements, but both are unlikely to leave their current clubs.

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has also been singled out as a potential candidate and putting a deal in place to bring him to Madrid could prove simpler considering his disputes with the Chelsea hierarchy, which has led to doubt over his future.

Maurizio Sarri and Arsene Wenger, who left Napoli and Arsenal respectively at the end of the season, are free agents and both have the reputation, experiences, style of play and mentality to manage Los Blancos.

Following in the footsteps of the first manager to win three successive Champions League titles will be a task that only one of the world’s best managers could tackle. Who will get the nod, however, remains to be seen and Perez will be in the unenviable position of having to scramble to point Zidane’s successor.

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Dean Workman