Last Thursday, Real Madrid released a statement confirming that their longtime player and manager, Zidane, had left the club, seemingly amicably. The Frenchman took the narrative back today after he released an open letter in the Spanish publication AS alleging that club president Florentino Perez conspired against him.
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What Zidane wrote
The open letter was directly addressed to Real fans, and Zidane profusely thanked them for all their support during his 20 years at the club.
He even revealed he accepted the offer to return as manager in 2019 mainly because fans he’d meet in the street constantly expressed their desire to see him back in the dugout.
The letter shifted tones when he described why exactly he left for a second time. Zidane made clear he wasn’t jumping overboard or tired of coaching.
He wrote:
In May 2018 I left because after two and a half years, with so many victories and so many trophies, I felt the team needed a new approach to stay at the very highest level. Right now, things are different. I’m leaving because I feel the club no longer has the faith in me I need, nor the support to build something in the medium or long term.
He then explained how his relationship with the club president deteriorated in recent months. This was due in part to his allegation that Perez leaked stories to the press after a defeat, stating that Zidane would be fired if the team failed to win the next game.
The Frenchman said:
It hurt me and the whole team because these deliberately leaked messages to the media negatively influenced the squad, they created doubts and misunderstandings.
In a concluding paragraph, Zidane wrote a message directly to journalists, asking them to focus more on the game and less on the dramatics and controversy that happens outside of the pitch.
