Real Madrid enter the new season on the verge of crisis with Zinedine Zidane reportedly prepared to walk away from the La Liga giants.
The failure to sign Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba has pushed the Frenchman towards replicating the shock departure he made a year ago.
Spanish journalist Diego Torres has told The Independent: “Not signing Pogba puts Zidane on the brink of resigning.
“Zidane personally promised Pogba he would bring him to Madrid, and now he is left looking bad.
“This has only increased the lack of confidence between Zidane and Florentino [Perez, Madrid club president].”
It has been a mixed summer for the Bernabeu boss.
Eden Hazard and Luka Jovic are just two of the many signings that have carried Real’s spending over £300million.
But Zidane was promised total control over the complete squad overhaul he, and many others, saw as necessary after a dismal, trophy-less 2018/19 campaign.
Deadwood has been flogged but the transfer listed stars earning the most money, James Rodriguez and Gareth Bale, remain at the club.
If the coach had his way, it is thought the free transfer of Bale to Jiangsu Suning and Rodriguez’s exit to either Napoli or Atletico Madrid will have gone through by now.