Manchester United have made progress in their attempt to persuade Zinedine Zidane to succeed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as the English Premier League club's manager.
Record Sport understands that Zidane – a winner of three Champions League and two La Liga titles as a coach - is attracted to the opportunity to take charge of a squad that contains two of his most accomplished Real Madrid players in Cristiano Ronaldo and Raphael Varane.
United's squad, the second most expensive ever assembled in terms of transfer-fee commitments, also contains Paul Pogba, a midfielder he repeatedly tried to bring to the Santiago Bernabeu.
United hope that the strength of Zidane's relationships with Ronaldo and Varane can help overcome reservations the 49-year-old has over moving to the Premier League, including a limited command over the English language.
An additional complication is the position of Zidane's wife on United's interest. According to a close friend, Veronique Zidane is not attracted to the idea of living in Manchester and would prefer her husband to take a longer break before returning to football.
The former France international is a free agent after deciding to step down as Madrid coach for a second time in May and can be hired without payment of a compensation package.
Zidane's record of delivering major trophies while developing younger players at Madrid also fits the “cultural reboot” story United have sold to supporters as mitigation for Solskjaer overseeing its longest trophy drought in over three decades.
The club considers Zidane to be a less abrasive and demanding figure than Antonio Conte, whose camp they held initial conversations with in the aftermath of October's 5-0 home defeat to Liverpool without formally offering the ex-Internazionale, Chelsea and Juventus coach the job.
One week later, Conte removed himself from the market by agreeing to replace Nuno Espirito Santo as Tottenham Hotspur's head coach.
United are also assessing the candidacies of Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers and Paris Saint-Germain coach Mauricio Pochettino. While both are interested in taking charge at Old Trafford, substantial compensation would have to be paid to their current employers to secure them at this point of the European season.
The Glazer family's discontent with Solskjaer's performance as manager has grown across a spell in which the Norwegian has led United to six defeats in their last 12 games, including a home League Cup exit to a second-string West Ham United side, Champions League defeat at Young Boys, and a Premier League record defeat to Liverpool.
Sources close to the club's owners argue that overseeing two five-goal home losses in the space of 12 months indicates that Solskjaer and his large team of assistant coaches have produced a United team that is “less than sum of its parts”.
Though Solskjaer - who was handed control of one of world football's most powerful clubs in December 2018 following five trophyless years at Molde and Cardiff - signed a new Manchester United contract in August, his deal is understood to include an unchanged single-season compensation payment should the Norwegian be sacked.
A number of first-team players have long harboured concerns about Solskjaer's training methods, tactics and in-game management.
Record Sport understands that more than one of United's key footballers now feel that a change of coach is essential to turning around an opening to the season which has left the club in sixth place, nine points behind leaders Chelsea after just 11 games.
For further analysis of Manchester United 's pursuit of Zinedine Zidane please listen to the latest edition of The Transfer Window podcast here.
