After the World Cup in Qatar, where France lost the final, the name of Zinedine Zidane circulated as a possible successor to Didier Deschamps as coach of Les Bleus. But yesterday those rumors were finally suppressed: Deschamps signed up until 2026.
A day later, the French radio station RMC called the French federation chairman Noël Le Graët. When asked if Zidane was the top candidate to succeed Deschamps, if the latter did not re-sign, he reacted scathingly.
“Zinedine Zidane? I wouldn’t have even called him,” said Le Graët. “What should I have said to him then? ‘Good day sir, don’t worry and find another club. I just have an agreement with Didier'”, it was mockingly.
Le Graët, 81, also responded curtly to rumors of Zidane’s interest in the Brazilian national team. “I would be surprised if he went there. But I don’t care. I don’t really believe in him in a big country or big club. He does what he wants, it’s none of my business.”
In the meantime, Le Graët’s blunt statements have provoked a great deal of reaction in France. Kylian Mbappé – widely known as an admirer of Zidane – quickly jumped into the breach for his idol on Twitter.
“Zidane is France. You can’t treat a legend like him so disrespectfully…,” the PSG striker wrote on Twitter. In the meantime, ex-international Franck Ribéry has also spoken in defense of his ex-teammate Zidane.
It is not the first time that Mbappé openly clashes with his federation chairman. Last summer, Le Graët unpacked the news that the star attacker was considering quitting the national team after his missed penalty kick at the European Championship.
Even then, Mbappé countered with a tweet: “However, I clearly explained to him that it was because of racism and not because of the penalty. But he thought there had been no racism…”
