5 Possible Replacements For Zinedine Zidane

#3 Mauricio Pochettino

The Argentine has gained many admirers for his coaching in England

Tottenham's coach spoke about managing Real Madrid in an interview as recently as last month.

Pochettino was an Espanyol legend during his playing days, and has stated that he will never consider managing their great city rivals Barcelona; the Madrid job doesn't have such controversy to an Espanyol man, and the Argentine said the job would interest him in the future. Pochettino has established himself as one of Europe's best young managers.

He transformed Tottenham from perennial nearly-men into true title contenders. They play perhaps the most pleasing football in the EPL. Fronted by Harry Kane, the trio of Cristian Eriksen, Dele Alli, and Heung Min-Son constantly interchange positions in a fluid attacking formation, finding pockets of space through their intricate play.

He's taken the team further up the table in each season so far: A decent 5th-place finish in 2015, 3rd in 2016, and 2nd last season, only 7 points behind champions Chelsea. There is much goodwill surrounding the club and the fans adore their manager.

Considering their struggles this season, when Zidane has often seemed too placid on the bench, the charisma and confidence of Pochettino could be what's needed around the Santiago Bernabeu.

He also became renowned for promoting youth at Tottenham, including making Harry Kane his starting forward instead of Spain international Roberto Soldado.

Madrid has several talented youngsters in their squad, including Borja Mayoral and Theo Hernandez, and Pochettino would be only too happy to trust in their ability over under-performing stars like Ronaldo and Karim Benzema.