Details emerge on why Zidane abruptly resigned from the Real Madrid job

Former Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane in a past match. [Photo/Courtesy]

Zinedine Zidane walked away from Real Madrid after a ‘dispute with club president Florentino Perez’ over their transfer targets.

Zidane sensationally quit Madrid after landing a historic Champions League hat-trick.

The Frenchman called an unexpected press conference last Thursday afternoon to reveal that he will be leaving after two-and-a-half years in charge.

The 45-year-old, a club legend as player and manager, said he felt it was the right time to go. 

The Sun has reported that last Wednesday night Zidane and Perez did not see eye to eye over who the club should sign this summer. 

Zidane was keen to sign Chelsea star Eden Hazard while Perez wanted to pursue their interest in Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea. 

Perez did not agree with Zidane and the latter was also happy with his No 1 Keylor Navas.

Zidane is claimed to have said: “I am done. You take care of the team” following the exchange between the pair.

Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino and former Madrid midfielder Guti are the front-runners to take over at the Bernabeu.

Appearing alongside president Perez at the press conference last week, Zidane said: “I have taken the decision not to continue going into the next season. For me and for everybody, I think the moment to change has arrived.”

Meanwhile, David de Gea may have made a rare mistake in Spain’s friendly with Switzerland on Sunday but Vicente del Bosque believes the Manchester United stopper is the “complete goalkeeper”.

De Gea’s strong club form included 18 clean sheets during the 2017-18 Premier League season, earning him the Golden Glove for the first time.

He was unable to keep Switzerland at bay in Villarreal on Sunday, though, spilling a shot from Stephan Lichtsteiner that allowed Ricardo Rodriguez to earn a 1-1 draw.

Despite that error the 27-year-old will travel to the World Cup as Spain’s undisputed number one, and Del Bosque remains a big fan.

“David is a really complete keeper,” the World Cup and European Championship-winning coach said.

“He plays well with his feet, which is important. He is improving and will be better.

“He’s been playing for five or six years in Manchester, that’s a huge learning experience, same with the national squad.”

De Gea and his international teammates are third favourites to lift a second world title in Russia, something Del Bosque believes is warranted after their unbeaten qualifying campaign.

“Let’s see. Spain has done well recently, they did a really good job in the qualifying games with great results, almost a perfect qualification,” added the former Real Madrid boss.

“And then we have faced big teams like Germany, France, England, Argentina, Belgium… and we have been better than them. So, that makes me be positive thinking about the future.

“There is not any recipe to play the World Cup. The most important thing is to keep doing what we already have done in the last two years.

“I think he (coach Julen Lopetegui) has done a really good job making a really good group. And apart from that, he has done a really good job developing his own style.”