Xabi Alonso learns main rival for Real Madrid job as Florentino Perez eyes Man Utd target to replace Carlo Ancelotti
Xabi Alonso remains in strong contention for the Real Madrid job but will reportedly face competition from club legend Zinedine Zidane, who has also been named as a target for Manchester United.
According to Spanish outlet Fichajes, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez is keen to bring former manager Zidane back to the club as a replacement for Carlo Ancelotti. Zidane has emerged as Alonso’s main rival for arguably the most coveted role in world football.
Ancelotti is under pressure following Saturday’s damaging 4-0 El Clasico defeat to Barcelona. The result leaves Madrid six points behind Barca in La Liga.
Los Blancos are also down in 12th in the Champions League standings. While they pulled off another remarkable comeback against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday, the 1-0 loss to Lille earlier in the season was both surprising and embarrassing for club chiefs such as Perez.
Fichajes state that Ancelotti must start to get the best out of top stars such as Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham if he is to keep his job. Mbappe has managed eight goals in 14 games for Madrid so far, but that is still below what was expected of the world-class forward, while Bellingham has yet to get on the scoresheet following a sensational start to his Madrid career last term.
Ancelotti is also being criticised by those above him at Madrid for failing to tackle the hole in midfield which has been left by Toni Kroos’ retirement.
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Whether Madrid’s next boss is Alonso or Zidane could depend on timing. If things get worse for Madrid in the coming weeks, then Perez may be tempted to sack Ancelotti in an attempt to rescue the season, despite the Italian’s contract running until June 2026.
Such a move would put Zidane in pole position to return to the Bernabeu. Alonso is keen to remain at Bayer Leverkusen for the full campaign, whereas Zidane has been a free agent since leaving Madrid in June 2021.
But if Perez opts to stick with Ancelotti until next summer and assess his options at that stage, then Alonso will likely emerge as the frontrunner.
Alonso has done exceptional work at Leverkusen, guiding them to a league and cup double last term, and he is poised to take the next step in his managerial career at the end of the season.
Perez has a brilliant choice between two of the world’s best coaches who also shone at Madrid as players. During two previous spells in charge of Madrid, Zidane helped them win two La Liga titles, an unprecedented three Champions Leagues in a row, two Spanish Super Cups, two FIFA Club World Cups and two UEFA Super Cups.
Alonso, meanwhile, made history at Leverkusen last season by guiding them to the Bundesliga title for the first time in their history. Leverkusen went on an incredible unbeaten run in the league too and only missed out on the treble by losing to Atalanta in the Europa League final.
The Madrid managerial situation will be of interest to big Premier League sides. Zidane is a dream target for Man Utd if they opt to replace Erik ten Hag.
Zidane has held talks with United director Jean-Claude Blanc, though he holds reservations about managing in England.
Alonso, meanwhile, was earmarked as Jurgen Klopp’s successor at Liverpool but instead decided to continue his Leverkusen project, forcing the Reds to land Arne Slot.
Given the brilliant work Slot is doing at Anfield, Liverpool are unlikely to make contact with their former midfielder any time soon.
Manchester City, though, would love to capture Alonso if Pep Guardiola decides to end his record-breaking spell at the Etihad.
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Real Madrid news: Man Utd transfer battle, Mbappe criticism
Meanwhile, United and Madrid look set to enter another transfer battle, this time for Bayern Munich’s Alphonso Davies.
United beat Madrid to the signing of French defender Leny Yoro in the summer and are hoping to do the same with Davies.
As per journalist Florian Plettenberg, United ‘dream’ of signing the left-back, and their interest is becoming ‘more concrete’.
But the Red Devils will have to put on a big charm offensive to get the Canada ace to join. He is eager to compete for the biggest trophies when leaving Bayern, putting Madrid in pole position to complete a deal.
Davies is looking to leave Bayern on a free transfer when his contract expires, putting him in a similar position to the one Mbappe faced over the summer.
But the forward has not quite hit the heights expected of him since joining Madrid and had a frustrating night against Barca.
ESPN pundit Craig Burley has now criticised Madrid for changing their winning formula to centre around Mbappe.
“When somebody’s getting caught offside as much as that, and we’ve talked about it all game, ridiculous in the end. Ridiculous. To continue to be in offside positions, when you have that level of understanding of the game and experience. He wasn’t the only one, but the biggest culprit,” Burley said.
“I suppose at Real Madrid it’s happened a lot. You sign these Galacticos, these big stars, you’ve got to sort of find a way to get it right. But they’ve basically taken, again, another side that was fluid and very successful and ripped up that blueprint and moved a load of people around to try and make it work for Kylian Mbappe.
“And yes, they’re only a few points behind, but we’ve seen all the performances, we’ve seen the games. Thus far, it is not working.
“They had no midfield runners to try and break an offside trap, and they had one guy who was trying to break it for 95 minutes, and he couldn’t do it.”