It might finally be time for Zinedine Zidane to prepare for a return to management.
Zidane, 52, hasn’t been in the dugout since ending his second spell with Real Madrid in 2021. So far, Los Blancos are only team which the French legend has managed at senior level, lifting the Champions League three times and winning the La Liga title twice.
Since walking away from the Bernabeu, Manchester United have parted ways with three different managers – interim or permanent. First it was Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, then Ralf Rangnick and most recently Erik ten Hag.
Each time, Zidane has been tipped by fans, pundits and bookmakers to get the job, with his experience of both playing for and managing a club of Madrid’s magnitude giving him the qualities to fill the United hot seat. But on every occasion, the 52-year-old hasn’t been interested.
The Red Devils aren’t the only team to have been linked, as according to Spanish outlet Marca, United, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich have all ‘knocked on his door’ in recent years. However, all four European heavyweights have been met with the same three-word response: “No, thank you.”
Zidane has seemingly been waiting all of this time for his dream job: France. Les Blues have been coached by his former team-mate, Didier Deschamps, since 2012 and become one of the most dominant teams in the world. Under Deschamps, they’ve won the World Cup, the Nations League and reached the European Championship final.
But his trophy-laden reign is finally set to come to an end following their 2026 World Cup run. During an appearance on French TV channel TF1, Deschamps confirmed: “I’ve been here since 2012, I’m scheduled until 2026, the next World Cup, but it will stop there because it has to stop at some point.
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“It could be [seen as] an announcement, even though I’m not here for that. I’ve done my time with the same desire, the same passion to keep the French team at the highest level, but 2026 is very good.
“To have been here already for as many years as I have, and to go until 2026, that will be 14 years so that will be a lot. We never want it to end when it’s a beautiful thing, but we also have to know how to say stop, there is a life after.
“I don’t know what it will be, but it will be very good too. Afterwards, the most important thing is that the French team remains at the top, as it has been for many years.”
Zidane is the firm frontrunner to take over in 18 months’ time, although the French Football Federation have plenty of time to assess other candidates. Speaking to GQ in 2023, Zidane admitted that it was ‘logical’ to think about managing his national team.
“I’ve often said that when you know the France team as a player and you become a coach, it’s just logical to think about it,” he explained. “But now is not the time. When I was in Cannes, I wanted to go to Bordeaux.
“Then I wanted to play at Juve and then Madrid because it was a different and stronger experience each time. We just call it ambition. I have always been ambitious and I have always believed in myself. I rush.”
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