Zinedine Zidane stunned Real Madrid on Thursday by announcing he was leaving the Bernabeu, just five days after winning a third successive Champions League title.
The 45-year-old, who replaced Rafael Benitez at the Bernabeu in January 2016, claimed the club needs a “different voice” in a press conference that nobody had seen coming.
"What I think is that this team needs to continue winning but I think it needs a change, a different voice, another methodology,” Zidane told reporters. "This is the right moment for all involved - for me, for the squad, for the club."
Zidane won a remarkable nine trophies during his two-and-a-half years with the Spanish giants, including three European Cups.
No team had ever successfully defended the Champions League title in its current format before Zidane’s arrival. Three European Cups is more than Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho and Sir Alex Ferguson have managed during their respective managerial careers.
The news of Zidane’s departure came as a hammer blow to Madrid president Florentino Perez and the players.
Well, most of the players, anyway. We’ve yet to hear anything from Gareth Bale, who admitted Zidane had not said a word to him three hours after winning Los Blancos their 13th European Cup by coming off the bench and scoring two vital goals against Liverpool.
The Perez request that Zidane refused to make
The Mirror understand that Bale, who hinted he might leave the Bernabeu this summer following the Champions League final, could now stay with the Spanish giants following Zidane’s shock departure.
The report also states that Zidane quit Real Madrid after refusing a specific request from Perez regarding Ronaldo and Bale.
Perez, after witnessing Bale’s Man of the Match cameo last weekend, asked Zidane to give the Welshman a chance to claim a place in the starting line-up while at the same time beginning the process of phasing Ronaldo out of the team.
Zidane clearly didn’t want to be the man responsible for this and instead decided to walk away from the club.
Perez likely to make the same request to Zidane's successor
Bale no longer had the trust or faith of his manager who, you suspect, wouldn’t have been overly bothered if the Wales international had left the Bernabeu this summer.
In Zidane’s eyes, Ronaldo was still the main man - and his opinion obviously hadn’t changed despite what happened in Kiev.
It's now likely that Perez will make the same request to Zidane's successor.
Madrid's number one target to replace the Frenchman is Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino.
Was Zidane right to walk away from Real Madrid for this reason? Have your say by leaving a comment below.