Seasons2020-21Rumour Mill
Real Madrid lining up Ancelotti to replace Zidane

Updated Multiple reports in both Spain and England are reporting that Real Madrid are in talks with Carlo Ancelotti about returning the club that sacked him six years ago, with Everton already looking at potential replacements.
What started as a couple of the Sunday tabloids suggesting in mid-May that Ancelotti could be targeted by Real to replace Zinedine Zidane should he leave the Spanish giants this summer escalated last night with the first murmurs from Spain that there might be something concrete to the talk now that the Frenchman has announced his departure from the Bernabeu.
Reports in Spain were claiming last night that Real have opened talks with Ancelotti about returning to the club, among them El Chiringuito, the online TV show that Florentino Perez first used as his platform to justify the failed Super League. Throughout the morning, mainstream UK media outlets have become convinced Ancelotti is on his way out of Everton.
According to the El Larguero Twitter account affiliated with La SER, contact between Ancelotti's representatives was made four days ago and that there is optimism that an agreement can be reached.
The quote included in a tweet yesterday evening said: "Ancelotti's party believes that it is an option that it cannot refuse."
It also suggests that Everton are already drawing up a shortlist of candidates to replace the Italian should he decide to leave the Blues less than 2 years into his 4½-year deal. The names floated include include Eddie Howe and David Moyes, although there are also suggestions the Blues are after a "big" name successor.
Reader Comments (59)
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2 Posted 16/05/2021 at 11:58:12
3 Posted 16/05/2021 at 12:05:21
He's an old dinosaur. No idea on modern-day football. Clueless.
That's his CV as written by some ToffeeWebbers.
4 Posted 16/05/2021 at 12:09:47
5 Posted 16/05/2021 at 12:10:37
I'm afraid Big Dunc is going to have to step up if he's ready or not. Doubt we have the next Jose lined up anyway. No catastrophe if these rumours are true.
6 Posted 16/05/2021 at 12:12:35
Other than being an ex-player, I can't think of what persuaded Barca to sign Koeman; his track record as a club manager was bang average. I think the new Barca chairman, Laporte, has no love for Koeman so, when he was elected as chairman, I guess Koeman knew the writing was on the wall.
Should Carlo leave, I think that will again mean yet another new manager who will want to clear the decks and start again. Mind, I am sure, to some ToffeeWeb contributors, this news will be music to their ears.
7 Posted 16/05/2021 at 12:12:39
I think he won't entertain it though as he sees Everton as a big personal challenge he wants to face head on.
He has stabilised the club after a few years of trauma. The initial players he has brought in have made us harder to beat. We've never been threatened this season in any shape or form with the relegation places.
The next phase of his and Brands recruitment will see us having more attacking threat, increase the intensity and tempo of our play.
I think Carlo can still see the path forward for Everton and is motivated to move the club up to Top 6 standard next season, playing better football.
8 Posted 16/05/2021 at 12:24:52
And when the next manager doesnt get us Top 4 in his first season, get rid of him too. And on and on and on.
9 Posted 16/05/2021 at 12:38:37
Real Madrid, with the pick of the world's talent, aiming for the Champions League final every year and virtual guarantee of domestic silverware in the balmy sunshine of cosmopolitan Madrid. Or us in the north of grey old blighty with over-the-hill cast-offs attempting a shot at the top 6.
What a dilemma! 😆😆
10 Posted 16/05/2021 at 12:47:03
Dyche & Potter?
Unsworth & Ferguson?
Farke?
Gerrard?
Be careful what you wish for. We're only just recovering now from appointing Silva who was way out of his depth. A bit of experience is no bad thing right now.
11 Posted 16/05/2021 at 12:52:02
12 Posted 16/05/2021 at 13:04:31
1) RM are broke and won't be able to recruite the world stars on mega wages, that they are used to recruiting.
2) They still haven't climbed down from their ESL position, so might well end up being banned from Europe and heavily sanctioned – if not demoted – by the Spanish football League.
Therefore, not currently the ideal destination for any manager!
13 Posted 16/05/2021 at 13:05:21
Also, if we get another manager in, don't forget he also has to win a cup in his first season or else he gets the boot as well.
Robert #10. Have you not heard of some fella called Steve Cooper from Swansea? Shame on you!! 😁😁
14 Posted 16/05/2021 at 13:10:32
Tuchel, Guardioala, Klopp, Ancelotti are not for the likes of us. Let's get back to bloody basics.
15 Posted 16/05/2021 at 13:13:01
16 Posted 16/05/2021 at 13:24:33
17 Posted 16/05/2021 at 13:27:35
Personally, and taking the personal out of it, the last thing we need is another change of manager.
If (big 'if') this happens, I see a scenario where we go with the populist view and appoint Ferguson. Even if he lasts beyond Christmas, we are appointing another new manager next summer.
18 Posted 16/05/2021 at 13:34:08
Danny, it won't happen, though no doubt there will be one of two creaming themselves at the thought of it.
19 Posted 16/05/2021 at 14:05:19
20 Posted 16/05/2021 at 14:10:46
After all, West Ham are stuttering over offering Mr Moyes a new contract; Koeman may only have a tee-off time at season's end; not heard of Silva being gainfully employed... and, if all else fails, then Big Sam and Zinadine Zidane are probably available.
How are Belgium going as there could be an Academy position available or possibly even a 1st XI assistant coach who understands Ballboys... No, that needs rephrasing.
But whoever, Mr Kenwright has nearly the same number of phone numbers as Mr Moshiri has blank P45s.
21 Posted 16/05/2021 at 14:44:28
Mr B&Q ????
22 Posted 16/05/2021 at 14:50:41
23 Posted 16/05/2021 at 14:53:40
24 Posted 16/05/2021 at 14:57:42
25 Posted 16/05/2021 at 15:04:45
I just hope with Big Dunc as his assistant they don't end up butting heads.
26 Posted 16/05/2021 at 15:11:42
Hopefully falls into the rumour or press crap category, like about 90% does.
27 Posted 16/05/2021 at 15:14:52
But then, if Carlo is backed in the market so can we. UTFT
28 Posted 16/05/2021 at 15:31:47
Did said DIY store start out as a fishing tackle shop in Utting Avenue Anfield?
Does the person have the same initials as a former England centre half with a dubious term of phrase to other players?
29 Posted 16/05/2021 at 15:39:40
30 Posted 16/05/2021 at 15:48:49
A mad house of a boozer next to it
colloquially known as the Top Bents. A lunatic asylum but great fun
31 Posted 16/05/2021 at 16:13:24
Yes very likely Zidane, will leave Real Madrid, but based on events of the last month, I dont see Ancellotti leaving Everton, just yet.
But money talks, and time will show.
32 Posted 16/05/2021 at 19:12:23
33 Posted 16/05/2021 at 21:20:09
Carlo this club isn't for you and probably never was really.
34 Posted 16/05/2021 at 22:15:16
35 Posted 17/05/2021 at 08:31:01
May be its time for Big Dunc to take the reigns and inject some passion into a predominantly new squad of players.
Back to basics. Keep Doucoure, DCL, Keane, Allan and Mina. The rest can go for me.
36 Posted 17/05/2021 at 08:34:34
37 Posted 17/05/2021 at 13:05:33
Time you moved on and please take the usual unmotivated wasters with you.
We desperately need a manager with passion and an understanding of the modern high intensity game and who is not afraid to give younger players a chance.
38 Posted 17/05/2021 at 13:11:35
39 Posted 17/05/2021 at 13:30:29
40 Posted 17/05/2021 at 13:40:57
1. Crisis club Everton re-appoint Moyes for a second spell. Fans deeply unhappy. We sign Soucek and Coufal to much anti-climax and then, the shame of it, Jesse Lingard. General play really awful – wins secured against bottom half sides but humiliation at the hands of the Rich 6 and upwardly mobile West Ham who showed real ambition by appointing Carlo Ancelotti. We are jealous and ashamed of our small club mentality. Finish 8th.
2. Crisis club Everton look to Sean Dyche to steady the ship. He installs a rigid 4-4-2, buys McNeil and James (Daniel not Rodriguez) to play wide. Richarlison and Mina leave because ginger goatees are a sign of the devil in latin America. We finish 8th, bemoaning our total lack of ambition and pour scorn on the outmoded system of 4-4-2. Meanwhile Ancelotti gets ambitious West Ham purring with quality experienced south american talent.
3. Crisis club Everton appoint Bruno Genesio, winning things in China after successful spells at Lyon. He and Brands work the Euro scouting network and pick up half-a-dozen bright prospects. We play nice football but finish 8th. Fans bemoan our lack of ready made players - pointing to the class acts of Allan and Rodriguez who were bought by Ancelloti's West Ham.
For scenario 3 replace Genesio with about half a dozen upwardly mobile European managers.
The point is, I think, that we are a total mess of a club. We're miles behind where we feel we ought to be and the squad is a shambles. Ancelotti is doing a fair bit worse than he should be but we are not getting relegated so he stays. We need a couple of seasons more to really sort this out and get the squad in better shape. It might not be much better next season, unfortunately, but it won't be worse.
41 Posted 17/05/2021 at 16:57:55
When Silva was appointed, we were given the impression that the club would only buy young promising players and develop players from the Academy. 'The Project' was to establish the club on a firm financial footing to enable it to finance the new stadium without it impacting on the playing side but unfortunately Silva proved to be a disaster.
This seems to have come as a shock to the club's hierarchy but it wasn't to the majority of fans. Allardyce was obviously a short-term appointment, although he seemed to think otherwise.
The appointment of Ancelotti seemed to be something of a coupe. Here was a big name, respected for his long career as a player and successful manager and of course he said, and continues to say, the right things about buying into the club's vision for the future. Is this realistic though?
The man is in his 60s and been away from the English game for a number of years. Other than 8 years at Milan his average stay at his other clubs is two seasons. I have no doubt that his intention was to make an immediate and big impression at Everton to enable him to further his career in Europe.
His signings, Allan and James, and the players the club is currently linked with are 30 ish and based in countries he knows a little more about. (Doucourè and Godfrey were not his signings as he has admitted knowing nothing about them.)
Anceĺotti is interested in short term success and not deveoping young players with potential. Unfortunately, the owner of Everton appears to know little about football and isn't being well advised.
Managers are quick to take the plaudits when a team is successful but slow to accept their role in a team's poor performances and Ancelloti is no different. I believe his team selections and tactics are hanging the players out to dry.
42 Posted 17/05/2021 at 19:13:28
Unless he came to the conclusion that the Everton project was hopeless (eg, being told summer recruitment will be minimal – which doesn't seem to be the case), I don't see it happening.
Of course, what do I know?
43 Posted 20/05/2021 at 11:38:35
We have been one of the hardest jobs in football forever. Ancelloti does not need the money. We play in the same City as the Club with an almost supernatural ability to defy laws of averages... who the fuck has their keeper score a worldie of a header in the 96th min on top of every other bit of insane unbelievable mind-bending moments that just feel like once-in-a-lifetime luck!
How the fuck does this shit happen?? Seriously...
Can we blame Ancelloti for decades of drifting???
I have been lucky to work in a few great countries and have met lots of footy fans from all over the world. As a Blue, I honestly don't open with all the history of misery... I can't... I just love Everton so much no matter the agony they put you through.
But when you explain this shit to other fans, they often agree with you; most have seen ups and downs, but when you make clear how the dice has rolled for the Red Shite so often, they just can't believe it and are then drawn towards Everton..
I honestly don't know what we can do. But I think we need much more streetwise people involved in the Club at the highest level. Moshiri has put his money in but he needs real people around him who are not sentimental or fucking daft.
44 Posted 24/05/2021 at 23:57:24
45 Posted 25/05/2021 at 01:31:24
Why would he go to Real from Bayern? Bigger expectations, much worse players, no money. He is replacing Low, much easier gig
46 Posted 25/05/2021 at 03:54:02
Apart from a few whimsical, naive Kenwright acolytes on here, my/our opinion is, I believe, sustainable.
Kenwright and every one of his pandering appointees need to be shown the door.
Then we need to appoint people of genuine excellence.
That said, is there anyone in the boardroom qualified to appoint football-savvy personnel?
Er, no, Mr Moshiri - provably, unless you gamble on Brands as chairman. And, due respect to Brands, he'd be a gamble.
So get smart, at last, and add someone knowledgeable to our board to replace the obvious charlatan Kenwright. He's cost you close to a £billion after all.
If you for once get it right you can then depend on the rest of your nodding-dog boardroom to rightly publicly acclaim you to the ends of the Earth.
Do you, like us fans, want genuine acclaim from the football firmament for our cherished club - our club being the club with the most points accumulated in the top division since football was invented, and one of only three clubs still present in the Premier League from its get-go in 1888, the other two, Wolves and Villa, having a way worse top division record than we do (despite Villa having won the European Cup with a team created by the bizarrely sacked Ron Saunders, a proper Scouser)?
Unfortunately Farhad, assuming you're blissfully unaware, as you've glaringly show yourself to be when it comes to football rather than manipulating £billions, Mr Saunders is now dead.
He'd have been a kick up the arse for those at USMFF though.
47 Posted 25/05/2021 at 14:45:56
48 Posted 26/05/2021 at 12:46:42
49 Posted 01/06/2021 at 14:29:26
50 Posted 01/06/2021 at 14:30:11
My answer would be give Ian E, the job and be done with it.
51 Posted 01/06/2021 at 14:31:48
Everton need good tactical experience and clout in the transfer market to attract players who would otherwise opt for Champions League clubs. Ancelottif at least fits the bill in the last one!
I feel like the wheels are falling off "Project Everton" a but here.
52 Posted 01/06/2021 at 14:31:49
Eddie Howe 2/1 Big Duncan 7/2
Nuno Espirito 4/1
Lampard 15/2
Benitez 15/2 Rooney 9/1 Moyes 14/1
53 Posted 01/06/2021 at 14:32:41
54 Posted 01/06/2021 at 14:34:20
55 Posted 01/06/2021 at 14:40:05
I've thought we need to look to the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark on the playing side more often.
Likewise coaching. They produce the finest coaches in Europe. The last 3 European Champion's League winning managers are German and a German scored the winning goal in last weekend's final.
Ajax's academy is world renowned both in terms of players they produce and the style they play. Sadly, like Schalke, they unfortunately don't hold onto them, so tend to be a production belt for wider football.
But good call if we need to replace the manager.
Dyche; I'm polar opposite with you on that one. Funny thing this football debate stuff!!
56 Posted 01/06/2021 at 14:44:07
Antonio Conte - 4/7
Raúl González - 7/2
Massimiliano Allegri - 9/2
Gian Piero Gasperini - 8/1
Guti - 10/1
Joachim Low - 22/1
57 Posted 01/06/2021 at 14:45:27
58 Posted 01/06/2021 at 14:48:34
As I said in an earlier post when I hoped this rumour wasnt true, the same useless won nothing managers will be being lined up starting with Howe surely most must have seen through this overhyped won nothing manager. He wasnt even good enough for Bournemouth. Sean Dyce yes hard working but with a limited style very similar to Allardyce, you never know this basket case of a board might go back in for Allardyce as he did finish 8th. I am sure Sir John Moores must be turning in his grave seeing what he built being destroyed more and more as the years go bye.
59 Posted 01/06/2021 at 14:53:31
What self-respecting, ambitious club would ever entertain recruiting anyone with such features?
I don't think Dyche or Howe are winners. We need a proven winner.
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1 Posted 16/05/2021 at 11:57:56