Emmanuel Petit believes his former team-mate Zinedine Zidane was not interested in the Chelsea job because he doesn't speak English.
Zidane, who won three consecutive Champions League titles with Real Madrid, will not be the next Blues manager after chair Todd Boehly turned to former boss Frank Lampard. The Englishman was reappointed until the end of the season on Thursday afternoon.
Many Chelsea fans wanted Zidane to step into the hot seat at Stamford Bridge, but that won't be happening. Petit, who played for Chelsea and alongside Zidane at international level, has provided some intriguing insight into the mindset of the unattached coach.
"Zidane, he won’t come, definitely," Petit told Stadium Astro, as quoted by The Metro. "You know why? Because he’s not speaking English. I’ve known Zidane for ages and the way he manages players, he’s very close to his players, he always talks to his players.
"He wants the communication to be a priority for him, it’s very important for him. He doesn’t want someone to translate everything he has to say, publicly. Simple."
With Zidane out of the frame, Boehly has turned to Lampard. The ex-midfielder was at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night to watch the goalless draw between Chelsea and Liverpool, sparking rumours of a return. As it turned out, those rumours were true.
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Chelsea announced Lampard's re-appointment on Thursday afternoon, despite dismissing him 27 months ago. Lampard was out of work after being sacked by Everton in January, with many critics questioning his ability to coach at Premier League level.
Yet it Boehly has faith in him. Lampard has inherited a team 11th in the Premier League - 14 points behind Manchester United in fourth having played a game more.
Lampard's primary task will be to win the Champions League. Chelsea's quarter-finals opponents are Real Madrid - who thumped Barcelona 4-0 on Wednesday night - and they will play the winners of Bayern Munich's tie with Manchester City if they progress.
Lampard's cousin Jamie Redknapp believes his Chelsea comeback is a "no brainer". The pundit told Sky Sports on Wednesday night, "I was at the game last night and I saw him in the crowd and he looked like a guy that hadn’t just gone there for a few drinks.
"He watched it in a very studious way and I started to think maybe they might like at Frank as an option because there’s not many other managers right now. There’s a few managers they’re talking about. Obviously [Julian] Nagelsmann’s had a mention but he looks like he wants some time away.
"This might make sense for the owners just to have a bit of breathing space and give Frank the opportunity to get back in the game. He’s got unfinished business at Chelsea, he loves the club, nobody cares about that club or knows it better than he does."
"I think this is a complete no brainer if Chelsea were to go for him and he’d take the job. I think it would be brilliant for him."
