ZIDANE QUITS AFTER BUST-UP WITH PEREZ
ZINEDINE Zidane shocked football yesterday when he quit as Real Madrid manager after a bust-up with president Florentino Perez over plans for the club’s future. The France legend’s departure followed a meeting with Perez in which it became clear Zidane’s blueprint for Real was wildly at odds with that of the hierachy, who want to sign a new goalkeeper and to explore using Cristiano Ronaldo in a deal to sign Neymar from Paris SaintGermain. Madrid also want Gareth Bale to start as many games as their other big names. Zidane — whose exit came just five days after guiding Real to a third straight Champions League title — rejected all such proposals. Bale and his team-mates were told about the decision just moments before Zidane addressed reporters at the club’s Valdebebas training ground. ‘For many the decision will make no sense, but it does to me,’ he said. ‘It is the moment for a change in order to keep winning.’ Zidane, 45, presided over the most trophy-laden period in the club’s modern history and he will be a tough act to follow. Madrid will now try to buy Mauricio Pochettino out of his new Tottenham deal. The coach’s exit is likely to keep Bale at the club but may well move Ronaldo closer to the exit. Messages of support from players were at odds with Zidane’s claim that ‘after three years this team needs another voice, different methods, that is why I have taken the decision’. Asked why he thought his methods were not working when the team had just won the Champions League, Zidane said: ‘A moment arrives when you say to yourself that it is best to change things. I am a winner and if I have the feeling that it will be difficult to keep winning then a change is needed,’ he said. ‘I prefer to leave things when they are going well. It’s the way I feel now. I have taken the decision and that is the end of it. If I don’t think clearly that we are going to keep winning, then it is best to leave rather than continue with silly things.’