During his playing career, Zinédine Zidane dazzled football fans, whether from Bordeaux, Madrid, Turin or France. While the world of football fell under his spell during the UEFA Cup final lost with Bordeaux in 1996, he immediately joined Juventus. But the French number 10 could have experienced another trajectory as revealed by Barry Silkman, a former player converted into an agent, in the columns of the Sun.
“I was alerted to the talent of a 24-year-old attacking midfielder in Bordeaux and I went to see him. His name was Zinedine Zidane, and it took me about five minutes to decide that this guy was going to be someone very special. I had brought a number of good players to Newcastle United during Kevin Keegan's reign and every one of them was a success, so Zidane seemed like the ideal candidate for a Keegan team. It was January 7, 1996 and I told Kevin he could sign Zidane for £1.2million, it was a bargain. I begged Kevin to sign him but in the end he told me his head scout thought he wasn't good enough and years later Kevin told me he should have listen to me rather than his recruiter. Zidane eventually signed for Juventus and the rest is history. »
“At best, he is good enough for Wolves, bottom of the championship. »
After this huge announcement, the 72-year-old Englishman continues his incredible revelation by specifying the words used by the chief recruiter at the time. “I wish I had kept the fax sent to me from Newcastle United, in which the chief scout said: 'Silky has grossly overestimated the player. At best he is good enough for Wolves, who are currently bottom of the table. championship”. I think Zidane was slightly better than the players on the struggling Wolves team! » The Magpies will be able to bite their fingers because the French maestro will be finalist of the Champions League in 1997 and 1998 with Juventus but above all became winner of the World Cup with the Blues in 1998 with an XXL campaign.
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To summarize
Zinedine Zidane had a great career between Bordeaux, Juventus and Real Madrid but could have had a different trajectory. Barry Silkman, a former player turned agent, has revealed that he could have signed him for Newcastle in 1996. But the operation failed because the Magpies' chief scout believed that Zidane's talent had been overestimated and that he did not was not at the club level.
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