What’s the story?
Spanish outlet, El Confidencial believes that Zinedine Zidane is set to be offered a massive new deal by Real Madrid which would tie him to the Bernabeu until June 2018 as a reward for an incredible first year as the manager of Los Blancos.
Zidane, who was earlier on a £3.6million contract will have his salary almost doubled to £6.8million, which will make him the 8th highest paid manager in the world, slightly ahead of Chelsea boss Antonio Conte who is on a £6.6million contract.
In case you didn’t know…
After the removal of Italian Carlo Ancelotti, a popular figure at the club, Los Blancos were looking to get an able replacement. Spaniard Rafael Benitez was brought in to provide some stability and stayed at the club for a small duration of 6 months.
Taking a leaf out of their rivals Barcelona’s book, the club decided to promote Zidane, who was the Real Madrid Castilla head and a former assistant of Ancelotti. The move came under a lot of fire as fans and critics were left stunned at the appointment since the Frenchman had no managerial experience at the top level of football.
However, the Frenchman proved his critics wrong and had a phenomenal first year in charge. In the same year, the manager and his team won the Champions League for the 11th time and the Club World Cup as well. The next season also began brightly as the club broke the record of being unbeaten for a record number of games.
Los Blancos have now gone 38 matches without a loss. At the moment, Real Madrid are leading the La Liga table by 3 points and have a game in hand over arch rivals Barcelona who are at the 2nd spot.
The heart of the matter
The Madrid management has been impressed by the Frenchman’s managerial competence and is set to reward him for his service to the club with a bumper contract. Although the wages on offer in this new contract are still some way off from Luis Enrique’s, there is no doubt that Zidane will put pen on paper to sign the extension.
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Perez was initially unsure of Zidane’s appointment but has been pleasantly surprised by the Frenchman’s ability. The President is sure that Zidane will sign the deal and commit his future to the club.
What next?
The bumper deal is a strong signal sent out by Real Madrid’s management that Zidane is strictly committed to the club. This deal would only ensure that other clubs do not try to tempt the manager by offering a bigger deal. The club are keen to tie him to a new deal and have already started working on their next year’s plan with Zidane and the transfer chief Jose Angel Sanchez.
Sportskeeda’s take
We at Sportskeeda believe that deal was definitely coming since Zidane has been brilliant as the Real Madrid manager. For a club where ambition and trophy are given prime importance, Zidane has truly settled in and has definitely surpassed all expectations.
The manager is even popular amongst the fans who are happy to have a manager who has Los Blancos spirit etched in him as he has spent over 9 years at the club, both as player and a part of coaching staff.
