Man Utd handed crushing blow in Zidane chase

Cameron Smith

• 1 Mar 2024 16:10 GMT
• 3 min read

Zinedine Zidane has no interest in replacing Erik ten Hag at Manchester United, according to his former Real Madrid team-mate Thomas Gravesen.

Zidane, 51, has been out of work since leaving Real Madrid in 2021, but he has been named as INEOS’ dream target to take over at Old Trafford following Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s minority stake acquisition.

The Red Devils are hoping to embark on a new era under Ratcliffe’s leadership and have identified Zidane as the perfect candidate to become Man Utd manager if Ten Hag is sacked.

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Newcastle sporting director Dan Ashworth has also been targeted as INEOS hope to lead Man Utd back to the top of English and European football.

However, their hopes of landing Zidane have been dampened by Gravesen, who believes the French football legend only has his eye on three potential managerial openings.

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Zinedine Zidane to reject Man Utd

Speaking to Discovery Plus (via Metro), Gravesen admitted: “I spoke to Zidane in Madrid two years ago and he told me that there are only three roles that he would like to accept.

“And they are Marseille, [Real] Madrid and the French national team.

“We were in Madrid two years ago and he told me exactly that. I also asked him if he was willing to manage again and there he told me that only if there were possibilities for those three.”

When asked about the possibility of Zidane replacing Ten Hag at Old Trafford, Gravesen replied: “I would say that the team he had in Madrid was fantastic, and he was prepared from the beginning.

“At United the situation is different, it is very difficult to do something with the team that Ten Hag has at the moment.”

Zidane won 11 trophies during his two spells as Real Madrid head coach, famously leading Los Blancos to three consecutive Champions League triumphs between 2016 and 2018.