Zinedine Zidane believes his limited grasp of the English language is blocking a move to Manchester United.
Former Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane has broken his silence on the prospect of him becoming Manchester United manager at some point in the future.
As one of the biggest names in football, and a successful manager with 3 Champions League triumphs from his time in charge at the Bernabeu, it’s inevitable that Zidane will get linked with the United job – just like he was after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s dismissal, as per The Times.
The France legend has been linked with the Paris Saint-Germain job this summer (via ESPN) but has now admitted that his lack of English could be an obstacle to him taking the job in the future.
At the same time, he isn’t ruling it out.
“Never say never,” Zidane told L’Equipe, addressing links to United for the first time. “Especially when you’re a coach nowadays. When I was a player, I could choose almost every club. As a coach, there aren’t 50 clubs I can go to. There are two or three possibilities. If I go back to a club, it’s to win. I say this in all modesty. That’s why I can’t go [just] anywhere.
“For other reasons, too, I might not be able to go everywhere. Which ones? The language, for example. Certain conditions make things more difficult. When people say to me: ‘Do you want to go to Manchester?’ I understand English but I don’t fully master it.
“I know that there are coaches who go to clubs without speaking the language, but I work differently. To win, many elements come into play. It’s a global context. Me, I know what I need to win.”
The 50-year-old is currently enjoying life away from management, though he could soon return, with Mauricio Pochettino no longer at the helm in Paris.
We must stress that we won’t be entertaining any managerial links – not when Erik ten Hag has just been appointed manager. That would be disrespectful to our new manager, who we hope brings success back to Old Trafford.
As for coaches who take jobs despite not being fluent in the language, former United defender Gary Neville is an example of that. Nicky Butt, who came through the academy with Neville, is understood to be getting Spanish lessons.
Butty could manage in La Liga yet!
I think Zidane is being kind to United and to be honest the way United are handling the transfer market if I was Ten Hag I would have my solicitor scouring the contract for an escape route. United look less organised and professional than your average pub side.
Its always the same way since Sir Alex left. Haggling over a transfer fee for so long such that everyone connected becomes tired. When united wants to buy player the negotiations become too protracted.
Am very disappointed with this team the way it’s handling transfer am tired with rumors and fantasy we’ve not made even one transfer all this time how long will we live to history we were …….only transfer they have made is the coach so can he play without player’s ?????