A mid-table Premier League manager could compete with Jurgen Klopp and Jose Mourinho to take over from a sacked Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid.
Ancelotti will be under immense pressure after Real were dismantled by Arsenal in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final and utterly failed to recover in the second leg.
The Italian would not be the first to be removed from the post in the aftermath of European humiliation, and according to the latest odds this lucky lot are the favourites to be next in line.
5=) Santiago Solari
Despite having not managed in any capacity since leaving Mexican side Club América in 2022, Solari finds himself in the conversation because of a) his successful past as a player, b) his current status as director of football, and c) his trophy-winning stint as interim head coach a few years ago. He won the Club World Cup but was also humiliated by Ajax in the Champions League so it seems unlikely.
5=) Marcelo Gallardo
Never has Gallardo managed in Europe, which does feel like a substantial sticking point, but the 49-year-old has established a fine reputation at Nacional Montevideo, Al-Ittihad and most notably River Plate, with whom he has won a litany of trophies and been voted South American Coach of the Year thrice over.
5=) Jose Mourinho
“The ‘no’ to Florentino Perez,” Mourinho once said when asked for his biggest regrets in football. Ever since turning his back on the Real Madrid president to return to Chelsea in 2013, another homecoming to the Bernabeu has been mooted. One of the recent rumours even surfaced while he was at Manchester United. But it isn’t happening in 2025.
5=) Raul
The manager of Real Madrid Castilla should always warrant at least a mention for the big job and Raul’s candidacy is only strengthened by his status as a phenomenal Los Blancos player. But he is leaving the role with the reserve team at the end of the season – to be replaced by Alvaro Arbeloa – and while he is expected to remain within the institution in some capacity it is unknown where or as what.
5=) Roberto De Zerbi
It would be remarkable if an exciting spell which ultimately petered out massively at Brighton was parlayed into something quite similar with Marseille, a distant second in Ligue Un, and then the big job with Los Blancos.
5=) Michel
Very much on the Manchester City radar thanks to his work with sister club Girona, the stock of Michel has taken an inevitable battering this season after an incredible 2023/24. The shock title challengers are now 16th and not entirely safe from relegation, having been knocked out of the Champions League league phase with one win in eight games. He is obviously a fine manager but there would be riots.
4) Zinedine Zidane
Never before has a man had quite such powerful Real Madrid manager energy, to the extent Zidane will forever be linked with the biggest jobs despite only managing Real Madrid and seemingly refusing to ever countenance the mere idea of managing anyone else. A couple of two-year interim stints delivered three Champions Leagues and two La Ligas and he would probably do it all again if he absolutely had to.
3) Jurgen Klopp
If some Liverpool supporters were already soured on Klopp when he addressed his lack of energy by becoming Head of Global Soccer for Red Bull, breaking management retirement to join their perennial thorn in the European side Real Madrid would make him about as popular at Anfield as Michael Owen.
2) Andoni Iraola
It is quite Modern Football for the manager of a team eighth in the Premier League table to be one of the favourites to take over at Real Actual Madrid. But Iraola has done some undoubtedly brilliant work at Bournemouth and more pertinently Rayo Vallecano, and there is only a year left on his contract on the south coast.
He is rumoured to be ready to turn down Spurs, but Real Madrid?
1) Xabi Alonso
But it does feel like Alonso’s job if he wants it. The lure of Liverpool was resisted when Klopp left and there was work to be done in charge of unbeaten Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen, yet that crown is unlikely to be defended and Alonso’s side are not in any other competition. The timing might finally make sense on his part to jump ship, just as Real start considering their own options.
