A former Real Madrid president, Ramon Calderon has blamed Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale for the sudden resignation of manager Zidane yesterday.
Calderon said Ronaldo’s decision to flirt with an idea of Manchester United return was behind Zidane’s decision to quit as manager.
It leaves the Champions League holders facing a huge summer ahead, with Ronaldo’s future also the source of much discussion.
Reports in Spain suggest that Ronaldo is determined to rejoin Manchester United, having grown tired of Florentino Perez’s refusal to give him a bumper new contract.
Calderon thinks Ronaldo’s decision to open the door to a United return was too much for Zidane.
He told LoveSport Radio, “He had some disagreements with the President during the season.
“First of all with the keeper – the President wanted to sign the Athletic Bilbao keeper and he said my keeper is Keylor Navas.
“Then there was talk of Lewandowski but we know he likes Benzema.
“And now the problems with Ronaldo and Bale – it’s a pity really, because I like Cristiano and it took me a lot of hard work to bring him to Real Madrid – but it wasn’t the right moment to say what he said and the way he said it.
“He knew he was going to have problems with Bale and Ronaldo.
“That’s a problem we’re going to have in the next weeks, and perhaps that’s something he’s considered in making his decision.”
Calderon also thinks Perez has already settled on Zidane’s successor.
“Knowing him [Florentino Perez] well I think he knew a few weeks ago that Zidane would leave and already he’s made his mind up about the new coach,” he added.
“I don’t know who it will be but he will know and will have been in touch with someone.
“We know that he [Perez] offered the manager’s job to Wenger a few years ago but I don’t know if he feels the same now.
“It’s also known that he offered the position to [Joachim] Low, the coach of the German national team.”
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