AC Milan assistant manager Mauro Tassotti could be Carlo Ancelotti’s choice to replace Zinedine Zidane in Real Madrid.
The Rossoneri president Adriano Galliani suggested in an interview with Sky Sport Italia that Tassotti could have sit for the last time in Milan’s bench in their 2-1 victory over Sassuolo.
“Assistant managers form pairs with coaches and he could form a pair with another coach who has passed through Milan. We’ll see, anyway, it’s not certain this will be his last game,” Galliani explained.
Tassotti has been Milan’s assistant player for the last 13 years. He started in 2001 as Ancelotti’s assistant, and he has worked with Leonardo, Massimiliano Allegri and Clarence Seedorf.
Tassotti has also admitted his years at Milan could have ended: “There are many reasons to leave. Stories begin and at times they don’t end. Let’s wait and see what happens.”
Besides having formed Milan’s managerial pair for eight years, Ancelotti and Tassotti also played together at the Italian club during five seasons, from 1987 to 1992.
Thus, Ancelotti knows him well, and knows he could be a good replacement for Zidane when the Frenchman leaves the Santiago Bernabeu this summer.
Tassotti is well known in Spain for having elbowed Luis Enrique in the quarter-finals of the 1994 World Cup between Spain and Italy. The referee denied the Spaniards a clear penalty that would have qualified them for the semi-finals. Now, Tassotti and Luis Enrique could meet again in El Clasico, as the current Celta manager is expected to take the job left by Gerardo Martino at Barcelona.
* Follow Alejandro Gonzalez on Twitter @alejandrognieto
