Dubai: Al Ahli assistant coach Fabio Cannavaro has thrown his hat into the ring to replace Zinedine Zidane as Carlo Ancelotti’s assistant at Real Madrid, according to reports.
Italy’s 2006 World Cup winning captain has already been linked to the Italian national team job after Cesare Prandelli joined Turkey’s Galatasaray on Saturday.
The 2006 Fifa Ballon d’Or winner, who played for Juventus and Real Madrid, is now tipped to replace Zidane as Ancelotti’s assistant after the Frenchman took charge of the Real reserves last month.
Despite no official approach from his former club, Cannavaro told Spanish newspaper Marca that he would jump at the chance to return to the Santiago Bernabeu.
“If Ancelotti, who is a great coach, calls me, then I will have to take advantage of it and of course I would go,” he said. “I read in the press that my name is being considered, but I really don’t know anything else.
“Everyone knows I have a really good relationship with Ancelotti, and I spent three fantastic years in Madrid. Beyond that, I don’t know any more. I have my coaching qualification, I want to be a coach and we’ll see what happens.
“I’ve been working as an assistant coach for a team in Dubai. There wasn’t any pressure, but it has been very useful. The important thing is to get experience. Especially if you’ve been a good player, then everyone thinks that you’ve got to win everything in your first year. And it’s not like that you have to take it step-by-step.”
Cannavaro had earlier told English television station ITV that he was also ready to manage Italy if called upon.
“Of course, it would be a great honour for me to be the manager of my national team, but I don’t know,” he said.
“Right now, the federation want to change the president, the coach … it would be difficult. I’m ready, but I don’t know. We’ll wait. I could not say no, but I don’t know what they want to do, what they want for the future. Now I think is a very important moment for our federation.”