The Morocco international surprisingly left the Spanish giants for a permanent move to Inter Milan last year after spending the previous two seasons on loan at Borussia Dortmund.
There were reports that Zidane was keen on offloading the full-back as Dani Carvajal and Marcelo were his preferred full-back choices, but Hakimi has now revealed that was not the case.
"(My first call with Zidane) I was with friends, sitting outside my house, the phone rings, and it's Zidane!", the Moroccan told L'Equipe, as per Marca.
"He tells me I'm going to play and I did not expect to stay that.
"What happened in 2020 has nothing to do with him.
"There were other aspects linked in particular to Covid-19 and Real Madrid that made me leave.
"At that time I had a conversation with him but that will remain between us. He thought differently about me leaving."