It is strange that we are talking about Zinedine Zidane’s future at Real Madrid after he led the club to successive Champions League titles but at the moment Real Madrid are actually closer to the relegation zone than they are to Barcelona in the league. It has been a dramatic turnaround in fortune after Real won the season opening Supercup against Barcelona. Zidane has struggled to motivate his players and more importantly has been unable to solve his team’s tactical issues. His reluctance to admit that he needs new players is also another cause of concern but it is understandable as the same set of players have delivered for Real in the past two years.
If Florentino Perez does decide to fire Zidane, he actually doesn’t have many high profile options at the moment,
Mauricio Pochettino
The Argentine coach has done brilliantly at Spurs turning an under-performing team into title challengers with limited spending. He has also shown good man management skills as some of the stars in the Spurs side are paid much lower than the market rate but still seem happy to play under him. Perez will have to negotiate with Daniel Levy but one big advantage for Real might be that Pochettino might convince Harry Kane to move with him to the Bernabeu.
Antonio Conte
The Italian has had a tumultuous second season so far after a title winning campaign last season. He has repeatedly expressed his displeasure at the Chelsea board for not backing him in the transfer window. His team has been inconsistent so far this season and it is highly likely that he would leave London in the summer.
Carlo Ancelotti
The Italian was an extremely popular man at Real Madrid after he led them to their long awaited tenth Champions League win. He is available at the moment after being sacked by Bayern Munich. An excellent man-manager, he can do a good job if asked to take over midway during a season and steady the ship.