What appeared to be a dynasty building exercise is about to come crashing down for Zinedine Zidane and Real Madrid.
The Frenchman is currently self isolating after testing positive for Covid, which means he can be sheltered to some degree from his empire collapsing.
Martin Odegaard was the latest Los Blancos player to stick his head above the parapet to suggest he wanted to leave the club.
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It’s believed club captain, Sergio Ramos, will also be on his way at the end of the current campaign too, with Isco another player that’s allegedly unhappy with his treatment at the club.
Some players, like James Rodriguez, have already carved out a career for themselves elsewhere of course.
Perhaps the biggest body blow to the notion that Zidane himself would stay after the end of the 2020/21 season is the news that Karim Benzema is now looking for a way out.
“Will Karim Benzema return to Lyon? Yes, I honestly think he will,” his agent, Karim Djaziri, said to Inside Gones, cited by AS.
“He talks to me constantly and he watches all of the team’s matches.
“On top of that, he has never been to the Groupama Stadium and in his mind it is something he wants, he has Lyon in his heart.”
Benzema lived for so long in Cristiano Ronaldo’s shadow, but has proved in the season’s since the Portuguese’s transfer to Juventus that he still has what it takes to be a lone target man at the top level.