Zinedine Zidane brought an end to his reign as Real Madrid manager, days after guiding them to the third Champions League title in a row.
Real president Florentino Pérez was shocked at the decision, as were the supporters, but now the hunt on his for his replacement.
We have identified five potential candidates to be Real Madrid’s next manager.
Mauricio Pochettino
Tottenham’s head-coach is the bookies’ favourite to replace Zidane this summer. The Argentine manager is perfect for Los Blancos, favouring offensive football and earning the confidence of his supporters for his press conferences, but he has just signed a new contract with Spurs.
The 46-year-old has done a great job with Tottenham in the last three seasons, although he hasn’t tasted silverware yet. As long as Daniel Levy still wants him in charge, Real Madrid would have to break the bank to bring him to Madrid.
Joachim Löw
Recent reports claim Pérez is very keen on the Germany manager Löw who is doing wonders with Die Mannschaft, winning the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and putting together one of the strongest squads.
The 58-year-old likes offensive football but hasn’t managed a club for 12 years, so he may be too inexperienced for Real to give him the nod.
Guti
Former Real midfielder Guti could be in line to replace Zidane. He’s a legend at the club and has been coaching successfully at youth level. Managing the first-team might be too soon for Guti, however, but he could be a good option in years to come.
Antonio Conte
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte is facing the exit door at Stamford Bridge after winning the Premier League and FA Cup in his two years in charge.
After a successful debut season, Chelsea struggled in 2017/18, finishing outside of the top-four and falling short in the domestic cups as well as Europe.
Conte was unhappy with recruitment last summer and hasn’t been pleased with how poorly Chelsea fared last season, so an exit looked inevitable when the campaign came to a close.
He’s still in charge of Chelsea, however, so Real would have pay a compensation fee.
Arsène Wenger
Wenger still remains to be the oddest choice to replace Zidane. The Frenchman was, once upon a time, a genuine target to manage Real, but his reputation has taken a hit in recent years.
During his time with Arsenal, the titles dried up and trophies become more sparse, so it would be strange to see him take charge of Los Blancos this summer.