David Beckham has said that even if Real Madrid do not win the Champions League final next week, his former teammate Zinedine Zidane should stay on to coach the club.
The team finished the Spanish Primera Division season winning their last 13 matches and pushing eventual champions Barcelona until the final day. They face Atletico Madrid in the Champions League final on May 28, where the French great could claim his first title since replacing Rafa Benitez earlier this year.
But a summer shakeup at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, which could affect big-name players, coaches and even president Florentino Perez, remains a possibility, especially if Atletico win the Champions League final in Milan.
Former England captain Beckham played with Zidane for Los Blancos from 2003 until 2006.
"Madrid need stability and continuity," Beckham told Spanish magazine Semanal XL. "It would be good if Zizou [Zidane] continues for some time and that they maintain the players they have today. Even if they don't win the Champions League, it would be good to let Zizou work.
"Stability is key, not just in every aspect of life but in business," he said.
Zidane reportedly received a pay-rise on replacing Rafa Benitez as first-team coach in January and is under contract until 2018.
"Besides being a great friend, he is the person that is most passionate about football and Real Madrid that I have met and the best player I've ever played with," Beckham said.
Zidane was Carlo Ancelotti's assistant in 2013 when Real Madrid won the Champions League and coached the club's reserve team, Castilla, in the third division before being named Real's 11th boss in 12 years.
He earned La Liga Manager of the Month honours in April after the team won six games that month en route to a return to title contention. Real Madrid trailed Barcelona by 10 points in February and closed that gap to just one heading into the final weekend of the campaign.
"I wasn't born to coach but Zizou, yes," Beckham said. "Zizou, who won everything, was chosen the best player in the world several times and he experienced first-hand many situations. There is no former player who garners more respect and admiration.
"It was only natural that he would end up coaching the team. At this time, they [Real] must be very happy with Zizou," the England great said. "His job in any case is very difficult because in the last five years, Madrid have had to face the best Barca in history."
Real haven't won La Liga since the 2011-12 campaign. Barcelona, meanwhile, celebrated their sixth league title in eight seasons last weekend.
"Barca are a monster, a well thought-out and constructed team, with youngsters that are promoted from the youth team and with [Lionel] Messi, who is from another planet," Beckham said. "When you compete against a team like that one, everything becomes more complicated."
Asked whether he felt that club president Perez was impatient to fire Benitez just seven months into a three-year contract and bring on Zidane, Beckham pointed to Perez's desire to make Madrid the best.
"Florentino Perez is a person who truly wants the best for the club. He wants to have the best players in the world, like [Cristiano] Ronaldo, [Gareth] Bale and others," he said. "He knows his socios and his fans. He knows that they want the same thing. That is the idiosyncrasy of the club. If they didn't sign such players, everyone would criticise them."
Beckham refused to enter into what he called a "senseless debate" over who is the better player between Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo and Barca's Messi.
"Both are unique, just like Zizou in his day. They have marked an era," he said. "We will remember the Messi and Cristiano years and both at the same time! No one had ever maintained that level throughout for so long.
"Whoever knows them, they always highlight their persistence and hunger to get better. They want to be the best."