Zidane’s France staff takes shape as Giraudon lines up media role and Diomede is considered

Zinedine Zidane is close to completing his backroom team as the new France manager, with former journalist contact Xavier Giraudon set to become the national side’s media officer and 1998 World Cup winner Bernard Diomede under consideration for a coaching role.

The French Football Federation revealed most of the staff who will work alongside Zidane last week, but the former France captain is continuing to finalise the structure of his technical and administrative team before officially beginning his new role.

Giraudon is expected to replace Raphael Raymond, who has managed relations between the France team and the media since 2018. The appointment was reported by Le Parisien and confirmed by RMC Sport.

The journalist, who works for Canal+ and Infosport+, is expected to start his new position soon as part of the changes Zidane is making at the national team’s Clairefontaine training centre.

Giraudon already has a longstanding connection with Zidane. He followed Bordeaux during the 1990s, when Zidane was beginning his professional career with the club.

The journalist was among those to cover Zidane in the early stages of his career, before the midfielder established himself as one of world football’s leading players with Juventus and Real Madrid. Zidane later led France to World Cup glory in 1998.

That previous relationship is expected to help Giraudon settle into the role, particularly after Zidane chose him as part of his new set-up at the French national team’s training base.

Zidane is expected to present his complete coaching and administrative staff at a news conference next month, once the remaining appointments have been settled.

The group is expected to contain about 25 people, including former France goalkeeper Fabien Barthez, who has been given responsibility for coaching the team’s goalkeepers.

Barthez may not be the only member of France’s 1998 World Cup-winning squad to join Zidane’s staff. Diomede’s name has featured prominently in recent weeks as a possible addition to the coaching team.

Diomede is currently the manager of the France Under-20 team and could become one of the options for a place on Zidane’s coaching staff. His appointment would bring together several members of the generation that delivered one of the most significant achievements in French football.

Zidane’s first competitive assignment will come away to Turkey on 25 September in the UEFA Nations League. France will then travel to Belgium only three days later.

His first match in charge on home soil will follow on 2 October, when France host Italy at the Stade de France.

The former Real Madrid manager is now working to complete every detail of his staff before formally starting the next stage of his career. His return to the France dugout has generated considerable expectation, with supporters looking forward to seeing one of the country’s greatest football figures lead the national team after years of waiting.