Photo: Ismael Arroyo / Imago7
An experienced coach could go on to lead the most powerful club in Europe right now, while the owner of that bench would go on to lead Manchester United of England.
After three UEFA Champions League and two spells at Real Madrid, Zinedine Zidane could lead his country’s Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), while the current coach of the Gauls Mauricio Pochettino would carry the strings of Manchester United, upon payment of his termination clause.
The French newspaper Le Parisien informed that the PSG board welcomes the offer made from England by their coach: between 14 and 16 million euros.
While the Parisian leadership has already met with ‘Zizú’; the diary Mark from Spain states that the club’s owner, Nasser al Khelaifi, was at the meeting.
Zidane’s contacts with Qatari shareholders are extensive. He is a shareholder of the QSI fund and ambassador of the Qatar World Cup 2022. The former Real Madrid technical director received offers in the last months from Man-Utd himself and from Juventus (where he played) but he would be looking for a higher level and consolidated project.
Another of Khelaifi’s plans is to use Zidane to retain Kylian Mbappé. The forward is currently disputing his last year of contract and is heading to sign with Real Madrid in the next summer window. “Donatello” has always confessed the admiration he feels for the successful coach of whom he was a fan when he was an active player, reason more than enough for him to renew with PSG.
On the other hand, the Argentine would become the main option to sit on the bench for Manchester United, who has just fired Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the last days. A move that would make all parties happy.
Pochettino has already been questioned for his ability to manage egos in a squad with players from the Caliber of Neymar, Messi, Mbappe, Donnaruma, Verratti, Di María, Icardi, just to mention a few.
Change manager mid-season It could be a bad strategic decision but it was not like that for Chelsea when they fired Frank Lampard before December 2020 to bring the German Thomas Tuchel, who in the end made them win the long-awaited “orejona” of the UCL.
In Paris they talk about the differences that have been generated between the PSG board and Pochettino, especially with their statements to L ‘Equipe in a recent interview in which he revealed a certain gap in the philosophy of the game: “We are here to develop the ideas of PSG, not to develop our ideas. We also need some time, which many times does not exist in football. If they don’t give it to us to develop our PSG idea, well, too bad, we won’t be the first or the last. ”