REAL MADRID
Florentino's wide range of candidates for the Real Madrid job
Florentino Perez has been turned down a number of times when searching for Zidane and then Lopetegui's replacement, who are all very different.
The loss of Zinedine Zidane was expected to cause some trauma at the Santiago Bernabeu but since the French manager left his post, Florentino has tried to sign as many as nine managers with no success.
It was in the summer when Perez was met with his first problems. Mauricio Pochettino had just renewed with Spurs until 2023 in May and that made any agreement impossible. The impossibility of that route was followed by rejections from Allegri, who has a contract until 2020 with Juventus and Klopp, who is satisfied on every level at Liverpool and has a contract until 2022.
There was Guti too but he moved to Besiktas as their assistant coach. The telephone call to Antonio Conte was made as a 'strong hand' although he had to sort out his compensation package from Chelsea at the time. Nagelsmann, who was also considered but openly admitted that he was approached and said "I am 30, there will be more opportunities."
Lopetegui out but criteria for replacement unclear
In the end, Lopetegui was selected and we all know how that ended. It finally finished last Monday with just one win in six games and with Real Madrid falling 5-1 to Barcelona in the Clásico. With that comes a raft of new names and Santiago Solari on the bench.
Conte's name continues to be linked and Perez wants him even if negotiations are at a stand still. Mauricio Pochettino is the other great desire of the president but the difference between these two managers is stark.
The criteria for who Perez wants to take over is unclear and with Pochettino, Solari, Conte and Roberto Martinez all linked to the role, we have a wide spectrum of personalities being considered. If it's a 'strong hand' that Perez wants, he needs to go with Conte but all of the other coaches offer something different and fulfill a range of differing criteria.
