Cape Town - Real Madrid head coach Zinedine Zidane is reportedly considering stepping down due to his club's failure to secure the signature of top transfer target Paul Pogba.
The Real boss has been desperate to make Pogba the face of his rebuild at the Bernabeu and the Manchester United midfielder is keen to move.
Zidane is understood to have promised Pogba before the summer that a move will happen, but United have repeatedly insisted that their record signing is not for sale.
There are doubts also over whether Real could afford the £150 million it might take to tempt United into a deal.
The whole situation is said to have left Zidane furious with president Florentino Perez.
Diego Torres of El Pais has told The Independent that the coach could quit should Real fail to land Pogba before the deadline.
"Not signing Pogba puts Zidane on the brink of resigning," Torres said.
"Zidane personally promised Pogba he would bring him to Madrid, and now he is left looking bad. This has only increased the lack of confidence between Zidane and Florentino.
"For Zidane, his project and Pogba are almost the same thing. Nothing that he was promised has really come to pass.
"Zidane returned as a protective shield for Florentino, but he has already fulfilled that political and social mission."