There was a growing feeling that Zinedine Zidane would be leaving Real Madrid this summer, but recent events do suggest that the club hasn’t really been planning for that situation.
Plenty of names were linked to the role but there was no suggestion that a successor had been immediately lined up, so that does make you think they hoped Zidane would stick around.
Real have been through so many managers over the years that going back to an old name wouldn’t be a total surprise, and it now looks like Carlo Ancelotti has agreed to leave Everton and he will be the next man up in Madrid:
Carlo Ancelotti to Real Madrid, here we go! The agreement on the termination of his contract with #EFC is set to be completed, the two clubs are in direct contact then Carlo will re-join Real Madrid. ??? #Real
Expected to be official soon, as per @jfelixdiaz @ellarguero. ???
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 1, 2021
The biggest problem for Ancelotti during his previous reign at the Bernabeu was a lack of success in La Liga, but he did deliver a 75% win-rate, the Champions League, the Club World Cup and the Copa Del Rey so it certainly wasn’t a disaster, but they do tend to move on from managers if they don’t win everything.
He will inherit a squad with several veterans so they’ll need to be freshened up in some way, but he certainly looks like a solid and experienced choice to take over.