SHOCKWAVE GOODBYE
Zidane’s bombshell will spark chain reaction among Europe’s elite clubs.. with Spurs and United in the fallout zone
THE shock abdication of Zinedine Zidane is set to start a merry-goround of football royalty across the continent.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Neymar will all be be part of the summer fun – and England captain Harry Kane could join the game if his Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino gets the job in the Spanish capital. Zidane has made a habit of dramatic exits. His last match as a player was the 2006 World Cup final when he was sent off for headbutting Italy’s Marco Materazzi. This time the football world has been stunned by his resignation just days after completing a hat-trick of Champions League victories. But the post-match shenanigans, where Ronaldo and Bale voiced their personal unhappiness, gave a clue to the permanent soap opera behind the scenes at the world’s biggest club. And why Zidane wanted out.
The respect he commanded in the Real dressing room will be difficult to replicate – and others are likely to follow him out of the door. Portugal superstar Ronaldo has increasingly annoyed the Real hierarchy with frustration over his salary since Neymar’s game-changing £775,477-aweek deal with Paris Saint-Germain.
Now the former Manchester United winger, 33, will be the willing target of Qatari-backed PSG, with his demands beyond even the big clubs in the Premier League. Neymar could go the other way back to La Liga after just one season in French football.
And Bale, the fourth highest paid player in the world, could also be a big winner. The Wales attacker fell out of favour in Madrid under Zidane, and he revealed the Frenchman had not offered congratulations after his match-winning substitute appearance against Liverpool in Kiev.
His £650,000-a-week wages would also be out of the reach of English clubs, but he now he could be handed the opportunity to stay and star.
But Karim Benzema, a Zidane favourite, could be on his way out.
Tottenham boss Pochettino is the favourite to lead a revamped Real squad which again triumphed in Europe but ended up 17 points behind Barcelona in La Liga. The team which started the Champions League final had six players who are 30 or over: Ronaldo, Benzema, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo, Luka Modric, Keylor Navas. A rebuilding job is required – and Zidane was not up for the job.
News of his sudden exit left Real officials shellshocked.
The 45-year-old legend told a hastily-arranged press conference yesterday: “The players need a change.
“There comes a moment when you think, ‘What more can I ask of them, after what they’ve done for me?’
“I want to thank them, because it’s them who fight on the pitch. I do not forget
the hard times, as well as the good times, and that makes you reflect. I’m not tired of coaching, but it’s the time for me to step aside.”
Zidane, who replaced Rafa Benitez in January 2016, claimed winning La Liga last season was his best moment – even above the Champions League triumphs.
Returning to lead the France team as coach is a future option.
Even the current boss Didier Deschamps, who won the 1998 World Cup in the same side as Zidane, expects the triple FIFA Player of the Year to succeed him at some point.
Deschamps will take France into the World Cup and is under contract until 2020. He said: “For now, I think he wants to take a break with his family and friends. He will certainly be the national coach. When? I cannot say. But it appears logical to me. It will happen when it happens.”