Zidane to leave Real Madrid at the end of the season

Zinedine Zidane will leave Real Madrid at the end of the 2020/21 league season. As reported by Spanish radio station Onda Cero, the French coach told his players of his decision to leave the club in the build up to the Sevilla game, last Sunday. Real Madrid drew the match 2-2.

Zidane feels his time is up at Real Madrid

Zidane understands that, although he has a contract to 2022, his time at the club has come to an end, and it’s time to leave the post he took over for the second time in 2019, having left six months previously. In his press conference this Saturday, in the build up to the vital game against Athletic, the coach said: “There are times when a change is best for everyone.”

The Real Madrid coach has left doubts over his future for the past few months. The questions over whether he would continue at the Bernabéu or not started in March, and Zidane preferred not to answer, saying he was not looking beyond the next game. “I don’t look beyond the next day. I don’t plan anything. You can sign on for 10 years here and be your tomorrow. Or vice versa. You can sign on for a year and be here for a long time. What keeps me going is the day-to-day and everything else are arguments in which I can’t get involved,” he said before the Celta game on 20 March.

Although at the time many did not take the comments that seriously, Zidane has stuck to his line even as the season went on, and it has become clearer he has been keen to avoid tying his future to that of the club. “You can have a four or five year contract and leave tomorrow… it doesn’t mean anything,” he said on 17 April ahead of the Getafe game.

And before the game against Granada he made it clear he was not thinking about next season: “I’m only thinking in the three games left.” And, according to Onda Cero, the French coach has now in fact told his players he will not in charge at Real Madrid next season.

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Rumours from Italy

Meanwhile, the rumour mills in Italy are working overtime, with Juventus supposedly set to welcome Zidane with open arms. The Italian giants, where Zidane shone as a player, have been trying to convince him to come in as coach for years, and it could now become a reality this summer. According to Tuttosport, Juve are preparing an offer, though the salary would likely be far less than he currently gets at the Bernabéu, where he’s on 12 million a season plus a further three with bonuses.

Real Madrid are preparing for his departure too, with the three names leading the list of candidates to take over: Raúl, after his fine season with Real Madrid Castilla; Low; and Allegri…