According to Spanish publication AS, promising young manager Julian Nagelsmann has stated that the rejected the chance to become Real Madrid boss in 2018 after Zinedine Zidane left.
Nagelsmann, who was just 31 when the chance to manage Madrid was presented, admitted that this wasn’t the ‘right’ step for his career at the time.
Julen Lopetegui left his role as Spain’s boss to lead Los Blancos that kickstarted a disastrous time for Los Blancos, he was sacked soon after and replaced by Santiago Solari.
Solari’s time was also short lived and Zidane was back as Madrid’s boss in March 2019, with the Frenchman having just led the Spanish powerhouses to a La Liga title in his first full season back.
Nagelsmann was doing encouraging work with Hoffenheim when Madrid enquired about his services, he’s since taken over RB Leipzig and has been doing a wonderful job.
Here’s what Nagelsmann had to say on the prospect of managing Los Blancos:
“We had phone calls, but in the end the one who decided was me, I believed that it was still not the right step to go to Real Madrid. I was one of the candidates and the list was not very long.”
“For me, it was very important. I had a good chat with [Madrid General Director] José Ángel Sánchez and we decided that it was still not the right step.”
“We agreed that we could talk again in the future if Real Madrid needed a coach, and if I was available.”
Nagelsmann led the German outfit to a third-place finish this season, whilst also firing Leipzig into the quarter-finals of the Champions League, as they gear up for a clash against Atletico Madrid.
Nagelsmann actually became the youngest coach to ever win a Champions League knockout tie when Leipzig dispatched of Spurs in the previous round.
The German has proved to be successful with modern philosophies in the early stages of his managerial career, it would be interesting to see how he’d fare at a club of Madrid’s stature.
Nagelsmann could be an ideal option for the side in the not so distant future, he plays an attractive brand of football and develops youth players – an area where Madrid have invested heavily in recently.
The fact that Nagelsmann has revealed that he has an agreement with club chief Jose Angel Sanchez to discuss the opportunity of leading Los Blancos in the future will certainly catch the eye of fans.