Zidane: “I want my players’ contract situations to be sorted out quickly”

Zinedine Zidane held a pre-match press conference on Tuesday, ahead of the final fixture of 2020 against Elche on Wednesday. Speaking about the clash with the newly promoted club, the coach said: “We’re happy to play again after a couple of days of rest. Elche’s stadium is a difficult stadium to go to. They just got promoted, but they’re doing quite well and they’re particularly tough to play in their stadium. They’re a good team. There are good individuals there, although I won’t single any one out. We’ll try to play well and take the points.”

Asked if Eden Hazard is ready to return, the coach said that the Belgian should be given some minutes. He said: “He’ll be there tomorrow and the plan is for him to play a little. The other day we decided something different. He has been with the team for several days now and we’re looking to make the most of that.”

Marcelo and Isco were brought up on multiple occasions during the press conference and Zidane was asked how he feels about leaving them out so often in recent weeks. He said: “I’m counting on all my players. I don’t get involved in things about players reportedly wanting to leave. All the players are training well. That’s good news for a coach. They’re very professional and I think they’re training well. I’m happy to see all the players focused. They’ll all have chances to play. All these players want to play. It’s difficult to leave players out, but this is part of the coach’s job and it’s the bad part.”

Finally, Zidane was asked about the players whose contracts will expire in the summer such as Sergio Ramos or Luka Modric. He was asked if he’s worried about the fact that they can begin to negotiate with other clubs from Friday onwards. He replied: “I want all my players to stay here. For me, they’re the best. Of course I want these things to be sorted out quickly for the good of all.”