A reliable French reporter has gone on record to claim that Zinedine Zidane will become head coach of Paris Saint Germain within the next six months, fuelling speculation about the future of Mauricio Pochettino.

The former Spurs man currently holds the position in the French capital but it is safe to say that his tenure, while not unsuccessful, has not been a runaway success either.

Before the Argentinian took the PSG job he was strongly linked with Manchester United but in the end, the Red Devils made Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s caretakership permanent and Poch went elsewhere.

However, United are now back in the hunt for a permanent manager and the 49-year-old is reportedly right at the top of the list along with Ajax’s Erik ten Hag.

So the fact that PSG appear to be lining up his successor is a very interesting development.

The RMC Sport reporter Daniel Riolo was speaking in the After Foot broadcast on Thursday (via BFMTV) and stated that Zidane would be on the PSG bench by June ‘at the latest’.

Riolo’s information ties in with a report this week from L’Equipe (via PSGTalk), which claimed that United already have an agreement with Pochettino for him to take up the Old Trafford reins at the end of the season.

And whilst the source of that story is a few reliability tiers lower than Riolo, it is an odd coincidence.

Of course, PSG have long admired Zidane and he has a good relationship with the club’s Qatari owners.

Their pursuit of Zizou is therefore not unexpected and does not mean that Pochettino has signalled his intent to leave. They may just as well have decided to replace him whether he wants to go or not, and regardless of what he achieves over the rest of this season.

Nonetheless, there have been plenty of stories about his discontent at the Parc des Princes and his strained relationship with director of football Leonardo. That, coupled with his barely concealed ambition to one day manage United, means that Zidane coming in to replace him is a win-win for everyone concerned.