Zidane to lead new Real project, says president

MADRID (AFP) –

Real Madrid’s Zinedine Zidane (left) speaks with Florentino Perez before a ceremony in Madrid, on November 4 2011. Perez has said the club’s search for new recruits will not start until they have a new manager in place, but he did confirm that Zidane’s current advisory role at the club will be stepped up should Perez be re-elected as president.

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has said the club’s search for new recruits will not start until they have a new manager in place.

Perez confirmed last week that Jose Mourinho would leave the club after three years in charge following Saturday’s match against Osasuna with Paris Saint-Germain manager Carlo Ancelotti quickly linked with the post.

However, Perez confirmed that whoever the new boss is, he will work alongside Zinedine Zidane whose current advisory role at the club will be stepped up should Perez’s re-election as president for the next four years be confirmed next week.

“If there are no other candidates (for the presidency), on Tuesday we will take possession and start with the subject of the coach,” he told radio station Cadena Ser in an interview on Monday night.

“First we will speak with the coach, because although people don’t believe it, we have still not spoken with anybody. We want this to be led by Zidane. I would also like it if he was Madrid coach some day.

“Once the coach arrives, he and Zidane will look at what we can do to take a step up in quality. Zidane will be the one entrusted to make the new signings with the coach.”

Perez also touched on Mourinho’s time in charge and was broadly defensive of the Portuguese coach, although he did admit that he didn’t agree with the former Chelsea boss’ decision to drop captain Iker Casillas.

“What happens is that when Mourinho makes a mistake it has worldwide attention.

“Although the club thinks that Casillas is the best in the world, you can’t enter into a technical decision.”

And the man that in the past signed the likes of Zidane, Luis Figo, David Beckham and Ronaldo as players reflected on his failure to lure Neymar to the club after the Brazilian agreed to join Barcelona over the weekend.

“Three years ago there was a chance to sign him and we wanted to take advantage of it, but then the club wouldn’t let him leave and they renewed his contract,” he said.

“He seems to me like a magnificent player and I would have signed him if the conditions wouldn’t have altered the eco-system of the club.

“We had to negotiate with the club, the father, a fund that had 40% of his rights. For us it would have cost more than 150 million euros. I don’t know how much it cost Barca.”