Real Madrid are on a downward spiral. While their misfortunes last season were largely blamed on a combination of Julen Lopetegui and Sontiago Solari, many assumed that things would pick up after the return of Zinedine Zidane.
That has not proved to be the case and their situation continues to look increasingly dire. The 3-0 loss to PSG in midweek was just the latest in a long line of setbacks and the atmosphere in the dressing room seems to be quickly deteriorating.
None of that reflects well on Zidane, who made a number of questionable moves during the summer. He was continually in conflict with the board over the club's transfer policy, unhappy with their recruits despite the vast amount of money spent.
He also attempted to hound Gareth Bale out of the club only for the Welshman to become an important player once the season got underway.
Bale clearly still holds some resentment, as he demonstrated before the game in Paris.
"Je ne dirais pas que je joue en étant heureux." Gareth #Bale #RealMadrid
pic.twitter.com/P9uVukZHlW— Abdellah Boulma (@AbdellahBoulma) September 20, 2019
All of this has resulted in some speculation over Zidane's future at the club. Madrid are not shy in changing their manager and could opt for a change sooner rather than later. However, it will reportedly cost them a fortune to do so.
SPORT are reporting that Real Madrid would be forced to hand over a monstrous €80million if they sacked their manager. That is the amount remaining on the manager's contract, which sees him earn around €26million per season before tax.
Even for a club as wealthy as Los Blancos, that would surely make them think twice about making the switch.
If they do opt for a chance, Jose Morinho is believed to be the first choice replacement. Florentino Perez is known to be a huge admirer of the former Chelsea boss and actually wanted to appoint him earlier this year.
The club's board convinced him to go for Zidane instead, but there is a sense that he could yet get his man. A few more results such as the one on Wednesday night would likely speed up that process.
