Zinedine Zidane Reportedly Hoping to Replace Jose Mourinho at Manchester United

Zinedine Zidane is reportedly eager to make his return to management and is said to have his heart set on replacing Jose Mourinho at the Manchester United helm.  

L'Equipe (h/t Mirror's James Whaling) reported Zidane, who has not taken up another position since stepping down as Real Madrid manager in May, favours a move to United over any other in the Premier League.

Zidane won three successive UEFA Champions League titles before leaving Real this summer, while Mourinho ended 2017-18 without a trophy, having led United to second in the Premier League behind Manchester City.

It was a surprise when Zidane took his leave of the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in May after two-and-a-half years at Real, his first senior managerial appointment.

But the Frenchman explained his decision as a need for change at the club after three consecutive Champions League triumphs, via ESPN UK:

Libertad Digital (h/t Mirror's Jack Rathborn) reported Zidane could return to another of his former clubs, Juventus, in a director or consultant capacity, although such a move is still yet to materialise.

It would be an almost cruel twist if Zidane were eventually named to replace Mourinho at the United helm considering it was the Portuguese who first encouraged he be brought into the Real Madrid setup in 2010.

Zidane first served as an advisor to the team after Mourinho arrived from Inter Milan eight years ago. He stepped up to become the club's sporting director one year later, served as assistant to Carlo Ancelotti and eventually became the Castilla coach in 2014.

The Independent's Miguel Delaney argued it's too difficult to judge Zidane when considering the team he inherited at Real, via BBC 5 Live Sport:

Former Celtic manager Neil Lennon was more generous in his review of the 1998 Ballon d'Or winner:

Mourinho is in his third season as manager at Old Trafford, and it's at around this juncture in his other tenures that the cracks begin to appear, having left recent posts at Real and Chelsea either after or during his third term.

The next club to employ Zidane as a manager will hope to see his success at Real replicated, but the parameters in place at the Bernabeu were so particular. 

He represents a risk, but depending on the success of the 2018-19 campaign to come and whether United can improve their silverware success, the board may opt for risk rather than persevere with Mourinho.