French Football Federation (FFF) president Noel Le Graet believes Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane would manage France national team in the future.
The 44-year old has taken up the manager job at Real Madrid last January after the club decided to sack Rafael Benetiz. He, then helped Real Madrid to their 11th European title last summer.
Zidane has gone one level up as he helped the club to win both La Liga and their 12th European title this summer, making them the best club in entire Europe once again in his remarkable 18 months so far.
La Graet, speaking to RMC, told that Zidane would one day manage French national team as it would be the ideal follow-on from his work at the Spanish club.
“It’s the logical follow-on. It’s probable that one day he will have the ambition of doing that,” Le Graet said. “For the moment, I think he still has a lot to contribute to Real and the club’s way of life suits him perfectly.”
Zidane had won World Cup with France in 1998 and then the Euros in 2000 and was one of the greatest players to ever play for their country. Prior to becoming the manager at Real Madrid, the French legend was tipped to go back to Ligue 1 and coach Bordeaux.
“I can’t believe what he’s done,” Le Graet said. “I talked to him two or three years ago, and really encouraged him to go to Bordeaux or elsewhere, to start his career at a Ligue 1 club or a more humble one.”
Instead taking over at the French club, Zidane had taken charge at Real Castilla and has earned a name for himself with the reserve team.
He added: “He’s done it with players who aren’t easy to deal with. In any case, you can see they like him, that his style of play suits them, that he makes changes at the right time. He’s really someone who has fulfilled his mission.”
Zidane would be keen to build on the success he had with Real Madrid in his first 18 months. The club could eye three back to back European titles which has not happened for four decades now next season as there are hardly any clubs that could challenge Real Madrid at the moment.