Zidane has won three Champions Leagues as a manager but hasn’t led a team since leaving Real Madrid in 2021.

 

Zinedine Zidane has ruled himself out of taking over from Erik Ten Hag as manager of Premier League club Manchester United, as he feels his English wouldn’t be at the level required to allow him to do the job properly.

The former France international enjoyed huge success in two spells as a coach with Real Madrid, whom he played for from 2001 to 2006. Zidane led Los Blancos to 11 trophies in a total of four and a-half years in charge, including three Champions Leagues in a row and two La Liga titles.

‘Zizou’ heavily linked with France and United jobs

The 1998 Ballon d’Or winner hasn’t managed a team since leaving Madrid in May 2021 but has been consistently linked with the France national team and Manchester United jobs.

Despite speculation he would leave his position after the 2022 World Cup and Euro 2024, Zidane’s former Juventus and international teammate Didier Deschamps will stay in charge of France at least until the conclusion of the 2026 World Cup, according to the French Football Federation.

The United Post is, of course, currently unavailable, and Ten Hag has received the backing of new minority owners INEOS, headed by chairman Sir Jim Ratcliffe. However, the Dutchman oversaw a disappointing season in 2023/24 and has endured a tough start to the new campaign, which means pressure will continue to increase unless he can turn things around.

The Red Devils won the FA Cup last season but finished eighth in the Premier League and recorded their worst-ever performance in a Champions League group, collecting only four points. They began 2024/25 with a narrow home win over Fulham, but then lost away to Brighton and were heavily beaten by archrivals Liverpool at Old Trafford before the international break.

Zidane reveals the reason he won’t manage in England

Even if Ten Hag does eventually go, though, Zidane won’t be the man replacing him. In an interview with L’Équipe, the Frenchman was asked about the chances of him ever turning up at Old Trafford:

“Would I want to go to Manchester United? I understand English, but I’m not completely fluent in it. I know that there are coaches who go to clubs without speaking the language, but I work in a different way. Many elements come into play in order to win, and I know what I need to win.”

As well as his native French, Zidane speaks Italian, after his five-year spell as a player at Juventus, and Spanish. The former Bordeaux midfielder has spent the vast majority of the last 23 years living in Spain and has a Spanish wife.

Which team will Zinedine Zidane manage next?

With being able to communicate freely with his players apparently a top priority, it appears as though we can rule out a move to the Premier League unless he takes steps to drastically improve his English. Or he simply changes his mind.

If we are ever to see him back in the dugout, France and Paris Saint-Germain look to be more obvious fits, although the fact he hails from Marseille would make life ‘interesting’ for him in the French capital if he got off to a bad start. Perhaps OM would be a better option?

There has also been sporadic speculation linking him with Juventus, whom he played for between 1996 and 2001, although they only appointed Thiago Motta as their new manager in the summer.