Florentino Perez has revealed he spent an afternoon trying to convince Zinedine Zidane to stay at Real Madrid and believes the Frenchman did not write his savage farewell letter criticising the club.
Zidane, who is regarded as one of Real’s greatest managers of all-time, departed the LaLiga giants for a second time this summer after a trophyless season last term.
The French coach wrote an honest open letter which hit out at Perez’s club for a lack of support, but the Real president believes Zidane departed due to the pressure fro the Spanish media.
When asked if he expected Zidane’s departure, Perez told Onda Cero’s El Transistor’s programme: ‘No, I know him. I expected it after that tough season.
‘Think about it, if you had to do 4 press conferences a week with some of the questions that get asked. It’s tiring.
‘I spent an afternoon trying to convince him. I fought for him to stay, tried to convince him, but he decided to leave.
‘If you ask Zidane the same thing 8 times in each press conference for a whole year, of course he gets tired.’
Zidane first became Real manager at the start of 2016 following Rafa Benitez’s exit from the club.
The Frenchman immediately wrote himself into Los Blancos folklore by winning three straight Champions League titles in a row, becoming the first club ever to retain the European title.
Zidane quit Real in 2018 but was reinstalled as head coach in March 2019 and won the Spanish league and cup double in 2020.
The 49-year-old wrote an open letter to Real Madrid fans criticising the club hierarchy for their running of the club and explaining why he was quitting the LaLiga giants.
‘I’m leaving but I’m not abandoning the ship and I’m not tired of coaching,’ he wrote.
‘In May 2018 I left because after two and a half years of so many victories and trophies I felt the team needed a new plan to stay at the highest level. Today things are different.
‘I’m leaving because I feel that the club didn’t give me the support I needed, it didn’t offer me the support the construct a project for the medium or long term.’
Perez has replaced Zidane with another former Los Blancos coach in Carlo Ancelotti, but the 74-year-old president believes Zidane was not the one who wrote that open letter to the club’s supporters.
He claimed: ‘I don’t think he has any issue with me. I did not read the letter. I don’t think it was written by him, someone wrote it for him.’
‘Zidane has the dream of one day becoming the manager of France. I still love Zidane. If he wants to return, this is still his home.’
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