PSG
PSG: Mbappé could turn down Real Madrid with Zidane tipped to replace Pochettino
According to reports in France, Zinedine Zidane will take over at PSG in the summer, which could lead Kylian Mbappé to sign a new deal in Paris.
Zinedine Zidane is widely expected to be back in the dugout this year, either at PSG or as Didier Deschamps’ successor at the helm of the France national team with the current Les Bleus coach under contract until after the 2022 World Cup, by which time Deschamps will have been in charge for a decade. Zidane left Real Madrid last year and has yet to take up a new position, despite various offers from clubs including Manchester United. Mauricio Pochettino was also on the Old Trafford radar to replace Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and it is likely the Premier League side will return for the Argentinean in the summer, at which point PSG will probably make their move for Zidane in a managerial merry-go-round that may have repercussions for Madrid’s pursuit of Kylian Mbappé.
“We know that Zizou is a Marseille supporter, we know the rivalry between Marseille and Paris but we’ll have to see if professional concerns win out,” David Bettoni, Zidane’s assistant at Real Madrid, said during an interview with BeIN Sports. “Time will tell. Zidane at PSG? To be honest I haven’t spoken to him about the possibility but there have been a lot of rumours in the papers. What is certain is that Zizou decided to take a full year sabbatical, and as always, I support his decision. He’s the coach, the one who assumes the responsibility, who has to deal with reporters, the media, the players.”
Pochettino and PSG: a marriage of convenience
For now, Pochettino will continue at PSG barring disaster, with the Ligue 1 leaders facing Real Madrid in the last 16 of the Champions League next month. The Argentinean was heavily linked with United earlier in the season but PSG’s inability to find a suitable replacement meant the marriage of convenience would have to endure for the time being. However, Zidane is the favourite to replace Pochettino in the summer, which also throws up the possibility that Mbappé, who will be a free agent at the end of the season and is free now to talk to clubs outside of Ligue 1, could end up staying at the Parc des Princes.
Meanwhile, RMC Sport journalist Daniel Riolo, who was one of the first to break the news of Leo Messi signing for PSG, has told French radio show After Foot that Zidane will be the new PSG manager “in June at the latest.”
Zidane could persuade Mbappé to stay in Paris
PSG Sporting director has not yet spoken publicly about the club’s pursuit of Zidane but it seems likely that Pochettino will leave at the end of the season whatever results unfold on the pitch with relations between coach and board never exactly warm and United still eyeing the Argentinean as a long-term replacement for interim boss Ralf Rangnick. Were Zidane to agree to sign on at the Parc des Princes, and Mbappé decides to stay to work with his idol, it would be quite the masterstroke from Leonardo, who has so far failed to convince the France striker to sign a new deal at PSG.