Zinedine Zidane has agreement in place to return to management

Without naming names, President of the French Football Federation (FFF) Philippe Diallo came close to confirming what has been an open secret for some time. Zinedine Zidane is closing in on his long-awaited return to management after five years away from the game.

Zidane left Real Madrid in the summer of 2021 to the surprise of many, explaining that he did not feel the support of the hierarchy in an open letter to the fans. Since he has been linked with a number of jobs, including a return to Real Madrid, Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus. However he has rejected all approaches thus far.

Zidane has agreement in place to become new France manager

Diallo told Le Figaro this week that he knew the name of Didier Deschamps successor for the France national team job, as recounted by MD. Julien Laurens has explained that a verbal agreement is in place for Zidane to take over from Deschamps after the 2026 World Cup. Deschamps’ exit after the tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada has already been confirmed, and Zidane will take over a job he has been rumoured to want ever since leaving Los Blancos the first time.

Zidane to be united with Mbappe at Les Bleus

Zidane already enjoys a strong relationship with Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe, whom he welcomed to the Santiago Bernabeu when he signed for Real Madrid. A number of Real Madrid players are expected to be key under Zidane, with ‘Zizou’ having played a role in the arrival of Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga at the club too. Managing Mbappe was one of the few temptations that it was said could bring him back into club management before taking over Les Bleus, but it seems the two will finally work together at Clairefontaine later this year.