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What's the story?
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 live, former Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon has revealed that Florentino Perez has approached Zinedine Zidane with the view of replacing Santiago Solari as Los Blancos boss in the wake of their Champions League elimination at the hands of Dutch outfit Ajax.
The Frenchman has rejected the chance to return as a manager at the Bernabeu, according to Calderon. However, he has left open the possibility of making a return at the end of the season.
In case you didn't know..
Five days after Real Madrid's third successive Champions League triumph last season, Zidane shockingly resigned as Los Blancos' boss.
Following the sacking of Rafa Benitez midway through the 2015/16 campaign, the Frenchman was appointed as an interim manager for the remainder of the season. Having won the Champions League in his maiden season as the Madrid boss, the 1998 Ballon d'Or winner was appointed permanently in the summer of 2016.
Zidane won nine major honours in three seasons as Real Madrid boss, including 3 Champions Leagues and a La Liga title.
Los Blancos have failed miserably to deal with the losses of Zidane and their highest ever goalscorer Cristiano Ronaldo, who left for Juventus last summer.
The heart of the matter
Following a miserable week of football at the Bernabeu, the 13-time European champions crashed out of the Copa Del Rey at the hands of their arch-rivals FC Barcelona. With the hope of reducing the points gap between them, the Galacticos again hosted the Catalans, this time around in La Liga, losing in which, they currently occupy the third spot in the league table - 12 points adrift of the top.
A sparkling performance from a young Ajax side saw the defending champions getting knocked out of the Champions League with a 5-3 aggregate score.
With their season getting ruined within a week, the Spanish giants are now considering options to replace Solari, who took over from Julen Lopetegui in November 2018.
Calderon told BBC Radio 5 Live: "I know that this morning the president [Florentino Perez] called Zidane to ask him back, he said not now."
"He has left open the possibility of coming back in June."
What's next?
With the hopes of getting back to winning ways, Real Madrid will face 16-placed Real Valladolid in La Liga, away from home on Sunday night.
On the other hand, club president Perez is already lining up targets for the summer transfer window.
