Zinedine Zidane Says Talk of Real Madrid Squad Overhaul Is 'Disrespectful'

Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane isn't prepared to discuss a summer clear-out of the squad, as he believes it would be "disrespectful" to his players.

Zidane returned as manager in March, having departed last year shortly after winning the UEFA Champions League for the third season running.

Per Marca's Santiago Siguero, he said:

"There are many things that we are talking about changing next year, but you have to respect all of the players who are here.

"Talking about cleaning [out the dressing room] seems disrespectful.

"We are going to have to make changes, but this is not the time to talk about it. We'll have time to discuss this later."

Zidane echoed comments he made upon his return to the club last month, per The Spanish Football Podcast:

Los Blancos' squad delivered three Champions League titles in a row, the second of those as part of a double with La Liga in the 2016-17 campaign.

However, that era seems to have come to an end, not least because of the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus last summer.

As for several of their other core players, Sergio Ramos and Luka Modric are now 33, while Karim Benzema is 31. Marcelo will turn 31 in May, and he in particular has suffered a decline this season.

Per ESPN FC's Dermot Corrigan, Zidane conceded the Brazilian had not been at his best in this campaign but would not discuss his future beyond it:

Though Zidane isn't yet prepared to discuss the club's plans for the summer, after a disappointing season in which they've fallen well short in La Liga and were knocked out of the Champions League in the round of 16, significant changes are clearly needed.

Football writer Simon Harrison noted as much following Zidane's return:

Zidane raised eyebrows in Real's 3-2 win over Huesca on Sunday, though, when he named his son Luca Zidane as the starting goalkeeper.

The Frenchman rejected any notion of preferential treatment:

"It [the criticism] does not change anything. Those who know me know that Luca is here on his own merit, nothing more.

"He's been a player at this club for 16 years, just like [Dani] Carvajal. Luca is one of them.

"Then people want to go for the personal side; it does not matter to me."

The 20-year-old conceded after just three minutes against the side bottom of La Liga, but he impressed Managing Madrid's Kiyan Sobhani and AS' Robbie Dunne with his distribution:

It was only the younger Zidane's second appearance for Los Blancos. He made his debut on the final day of last season in what was the last league game of his father's first spell in charge.

With Real having little to play for in the remainder of this campaign, there is no harm in giving him some more first-team experience. He's now Real's third-choice 'keeper behind Thibaut Courtois and Keylor Navas after Kiko Casilla left for Leeds United in January.

Given Navas played in the first of Zidane's two matches back in charge, Courtois will hope he's given a run-out when Real face Valencia on Wednesday.