Marcelo Gallardo among frontrunners for Real Madrid job if Zinedine Zidane is sacked

Marcelo Gallardo will be among the frontrunners for the Real Madrid manager job if current incumbent Zinedine Zidane is relieved of his duties.

Following Wednesday's shock 2-1 Copa del Rey defeat at the hands of Alcoyano, a club who have not played top-flight football since 1951, the pressure on Zidane has increased further.

According to reports in Argentina, the club's hierarchy have identified Gallardo as a potential replacement.

The River Plate boss has been in charge of Los Millonarios since June 2014 with some of his most notable achievements to date including two Copa Libertadores triumphs in 2015 and 2018.

Los Blancos currently sit second in La Liga but are four points behind their city rivals Atletico Madrid, having played two games more. They were beaten by Athletic Club in the Spanish Super Cup semi-final just last week.

The claim regarding Florentino Perez's alleged interest in replacing the Frenchman with Gallardo was made by reporter Maximo Palma on ESPN Argentina and he described the Real Madrid president as 'desperate' to do the deal.

He said: "In Madrid, right now they are talking about how Florentino Pérez is desperate to hire Gallardo to replace Zinedine Zidane."

Gallardo is said to be an excellent tactician and has cited Leeds United's Marcelo Bielsa and Manchester City's Pep Guardiola as two of the biggest influences on his coaching career.

It was reported back when Barcelona were looking to replace Ernesto Valverde in 2019 that the Catalan club considered going after the Argentine coach but the move to Europe for the 45-year-old never materialised.

Judging by these reports, it appears that despite having won the Champions League as manager of the club on no fewer than three occasions, the reigning Spanish champions' patience with 'Zizou' is wearing thin.