France World Cup winner Emmanuel Petit says former teammate Zinedine Zidane would demand a raft of promises from Sir Jim Ratcliffe in order to consider joining Manchester United, with the Real Madrid icon being “very conscious” about the quality of players.
Petit suggests Zidane would only accept an approach if he believes he has an answer to the current problems at Old Trafford. However, the calibre of the current squad and a language barrier might make his appointment unlikely.
Speculation in recent days has linked the 52-year-old to the Old Trafford hot seat, with Erik ten Hag – who expects to be in charge for the visit of Brentford on Saturday – facing increasing pressure after a poor start to the season. United have won just three of their 10 games across all competitions, and just two in seven Premier League matches.
It is far from the first time Zidane has been framed as a potential resurrection saviour for United, and reports that Didier Deschamps has no plans of stepping down as France head coach has spun the rumour mill once more.
However, speaking to the Manchester Evening News, Petit questions the true reality of such a prospect. “Does he want to leave the sunny days of Madrid? His life is in Madrid, he is dedicated to Madrid,” he pondered.
“I’m not sure that he speaks very good English as well. And communication is very important in the dressing room.”
Since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013, United have been unable to build on their 20 league titles and have finished in the top four just five times across 11 seasons. Last term’s finish of eighth was their lowest ever in Premier League history.
Aside from two Community Shield lifts, the club have won five major honours in that period – one of them being the 2016 Europa League – but have been unable to advance past the quarter-final stage of the Champions League.
Petit says United, currently 14th in the table having failed to score in their last three league fixtures, might have dug themselves into a hole that has become severely unattractive to Zidane given the current context at the club.
He believes, as a result, his former colleague – who won 11 major trophies as manager of Real across two stints including three Champions Leagues and two La Liga titles – would need a host of promises to contemplate joining.
“Honestly, I know a little bit, Zizou [Zidane], and he needs to get guarantees if he wants to sign over there in Manchester United,” Petit continued. “At the moment, the environment at Manchester United for years has not been good.
“The stability of the bench, the level of the players as well, the expectation of the club is not the same that it used to be. United is still a huge club, but not on the pitch anymore. And Zizou is very conscious and very careful about that, the quality of the players.”
He added: “Could he manage to overturn the situation over there? I think the only answer is yes. But at the moment, when you look at the team, I’m not convinced at all about the level of some players.
“So if I am Zizou, I think it will be very easy, actually, to answer this question [of joining United]. If I don’t speak English on top of it, that will be more problems in terms of communication in the dressing room.
“If he takes the job at Manchester United, that means he’s got solutions. At the moment, I’m not sure a lot of people have the solution to turn the situation at Manchester United.”