Real Madrid are monitoring the situation of out-of-work boss Mauricio Pochettino and view him as a potential successor to Zinedine Zidane, report The Independent.
There is said to be a level of discontent in the squad of Los Blancos which was heightened by their first leg Round of 16 defeat against Manchester City in the Champions League last week.
This is despite the fact that Madrid are top of La Liga, having returned to the summit following the weekend’s 2-0 El Clasico victory over Barcelona.
The report adds that there are a number of senior figures in the Madrid dressing room who have questioned some of Zidane’s managerial decisions this year, while highlight that club president Florentino Perez has not always seen eye-to-eye with the Frenchman.
Zidane’s first spell at the club was remarkable – winning three successive Champions League titles in two-and-a-half years before stepping down in the summer of 2018.
He returned to the hotseat nine months later, last March, and despite sitting top of the league they were eliminated from the Copa del Rey by Real Sociedad last month, with a league defeat at Levante following a similarly disappointing draw at home to Celta de Vigo.
Pochettino was said to have been approached by Madrid before Zidane’s return last year, but the Argentine has now left Tottenham and is in-demand among Europe’s top club.
