Real Madrid officially has a new head coach in Xabi Alonso, but one of their former managers still has to return to football – that is Zinedine Zidane.
It is four years since Zidane ended his second enchantment at Real Madrid, which was his last job in management. But despite this, he had a number of options to make his long-awaited return to football, with Manchester United and Marseille have shown interest in the last 12-18 months.
And according to L'Equipe (via Diario AS) he has rejected a different management option in recent weeks – this time it is Saudi Arabia that have been knocked back.
A few weeks ago it was confirmed that Jorge Jesus would leave Hilal. And the Saudi Pro League identified Zidane as a leading candidate to replace him, but they have been rejected. According to the report, a contract proposal that was worth more than € 100 million was submitted, but the Real Madrid and France icon was not interested.
And there is a good reason for this. Zidane missed the acquisition as head coach of the French national team in 2022 after Didier Deschamps was become about his decision to sign a new contract. That was a big blow to Zizou, but since then he has been waiting for the opportunity to arise- and next summer it will do that.
It has already been confirmed that Deschamps will resign as France head coach after the World Cup 2026, and everything indicates that Zidane is his replacement. Everything points to that situation that takes place after next summer's tournament, and it should be a memorable opportunity for the 52-year-old to manage his home country.