Zinedine Zidane’s return to Real Madrid saw the manager have a new level of power, certainly much higher than those who had tried to replace him.
The club’s president Florentino Perez would have to build the squad the way the Frenchman desired, and that was set to be the outlook. Target number one was Manchester United’s Paul Pogba, desired by Zidane even more than Eden Hazard, and there’s been no real progress.
Perez was also supposed to be getting rid of Gareth Bale, and Zidane’s frustrations with that situation have been made very public.
Madrid’s president can have the best intentions for his manager, but he can’t perform miracles and Zizou may have to start accepting that.
Thursday’s edition of Marca reports that signing Pogba has now become a ‘matter of status’, with club president trying to show club manager he’s backing him entirely.
The problem is Manchester United, and the Spanish newspaper don’t even dare to suggest there’s been any progress on that front.
They do say that now is the time for ‘acceleration’, explaining Madrid need to get a deal done before August 8th and the close of the Premier League transfer window.
This is so United can bring a replacement in, however, they can hardly do it on the same day. Ed Woodward hasn’t shown he’s the man for completing big signings in a small amount of time, so that August 8th deadline is likelier to be something like August 1st for Real Madrid.
