Zidane could replace Ancelotti as Real manager: Carragher

Carlo Ancelotti will not be manager of Real Madrid next season and Zinedine Zidane could be his replacement, feels Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher.

The club is poised to go without any silverware this season after being dumped out of the Champions League by Juventus and falling four points behind Barcelona in La Liga with two games remaining.

Even Ancelotti himself admitted he does "not know if I will still be here" next season and Carragher feels Zidane, currently manager of the club's B team Real Madrid Castilla, is a natural replacement.

Asked whether Ancelotti should fear for his job, Carragher was quoted as saying by dailymail.co.uk on Wednesday: "You know how this club works, he knows that better than anyone. He's one of the world's top managers, won the Champions League three times, but there's no way he will be here next year.

"I'm sure there'll be a change," Carragher, who is a football expert with Sky Sports, said.

Ancelotti won the Champions League and Copa del Rey double last season, but club president Florentino Perez can be unforgiving when it comes to a trophyless year.

Zidane took charge of the club's reserve squad in June 2014, and narrowly missed out on promotion from Spain's third tier, Segunda B, recently.

Yet Carragher, who represented England in 38 matches, would not be surprised if Zidane is asked to step up sooner rather than later.

"There's talk of Zidane, who is in charge of the reserve team. You wouldn't be surprised at Real Madrid if that happened in the next couple of days, and they give someone else the job for the last three or four games to see how Zidane went," former defender Carragher continued.

"That's the nature of Real Madrid. They hire and fire managers. We've seen people fired when they've won the Champions League so the fact that (Ancelotti) is going to play a season without winning a trophy, there's no chance of him being here next year."