What Zinedine Zidane would need to be the next Manchester United manager

Zinedine Zidane has been out of work since leaving Real Madrid in 2021, but has been heavily linked with the Manchester United job in recent weeks after Erik ten Hag's struggles

Manchester United's co-owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, has been encouraged to consider Zinedine Zidane as a potential replacement for the beleaguered manager Erik ten Hag. Despite a dismal start to the season, with only three wins in their first 10 matches across all competitions, Ratcliffe has chosen to stand by Ten Hag for the time being.

However, if the team's poor performance persists, it's likely that Ratcliffe will be on the hunt for a new manager. Zidane, who guided Real Madrid to two La Liga titles and three Champions League victories, could be a strong contender.

Yet, Emmanuel Petit, Zidane's former teammate from France, suggests that Ratcliffe would need to provide assurances regarding transfers and job security to entice Zidane. "I'm not sure that he speaks very good English as well. And communication is very important in the dressing room. Honestly, I know a little bit, Zizou [Zidane], and he needs to get guarantees if he wants to sign over there in Manchester United," Petit told the Manchester Evening News.

"At the moment, the environment at Manchester United for years has not been good. The stability of the bench, the level of the players as well, the expectation of the club is not the same that it used to be. United is still a huge club, but not on the pitch anymore."

"And Zizou is very conscious and very careful about that, the quality of the players. At the moment, when you look at the team, I'm not convinced at all about the level of some players. If he takes the job at Manchester United, that means he's got solutions."

Ten Hag, however, is confident he still has the support of the higher-ups at Old Trafford. In the wake of the stalemate with Aston Villa, he was adamant about his position: "I speak continually with them and, just after the game, I have to do my job, talk with the players, manage the players, and answer questions for you. We always talk, every week – I would say every day we talk," he declared.

"So, yeah, I expect I would speak with them [this week]. We are disappointed and we know we have to do better. Especially, we need to score more because that is, in this moment, the area after this block of games where we are really short."

"All the other areas, I think we are doing really well: four clean sheets, so that tells something about the defending, organisation. Also the defending of defensive transitions, we are doing really well, so we are really improving on that point.Our build-up play is good, we are calm, composed. We are creating the chances, apart from today. Today we should create more. But, yeah, in that area, in the box of the opponent, we have to be more ruthless, more clinical, more killing, and we have to work on this."

"All the other areas, I think we are doing really well: four clean sheets, so that tells something about the defending, organisation. Also the defending of defensive transitions, we are doing really well, so we are really improving on that point.Our build-up play is good, we are calm, composed. We are creating the chances, apart from today. Today we should create more. But, yeah, in that area, in the box of the opponent, we have to be more ruthless, more clinical, more killing, and we have to work on this."