Zinedine Zidane has interrupted his hunt for a high-profile position to give a flashy testimonial that secured his former Real Madrid assistant his first head coaching job in Switzerland.
David Bettoni has been named boss of Sion, the club that Mario Balotelli plays for, which could mean Zidane will be looking for a new deputy when he returns to football.
Recently, Zidane has made no secret of his desire to return to work, as he left the Madrid club after the 2020/21 season.
The great Frenchman is likely to have a post at a big club, while Bettoni starts his life as head coach with the loud support of his friend and former boss.
Bettoni was originally assigned on a short-term basis until the end of the season.
Sion president Christian Constantin told Le Matin newspaper that he spent more than an hour on the phone with Zidane, joking that it was more than former FA president Noel LeGre was willing to give of his time.
Le Graet caused an uproar in France earlier in the year when he said he wouldn’t even return a call to Zidane if he called to inquire about a job in France. This was after Zidane saw his hopes of becoming Les Bleus boss dashed by Didier Deschamps signing up for another World Cup cycle.
Constantin said of his conversation with Zidane: “I am very happy to be able to talk football with him for an hour and a quarter. He met me much better than Le Gres!
“He told me how faithful David was to him, that he never tried to pick on him in his mission. Without him, he told me again, I would never have been able to do what I achieved at Real Madrid in all his years.