Manchester United’s former chairman reveals Sir Alex Ferguson turned down the chance to sign Zinedine Zidane, before he joined Juventus.
The Frenchman joined the Bianconeri in 1996, winning the Ballon d’Or in Turin two years later, but he could have made the move to England in 1995.
“When Zidane was at Bordeaux, Les Kershaw, the chief scout, was telling me we should be interested in him and I mentioned it to Alex,” Martin Edwards told MUTV.
Manchester United’s former chairman reveals Sir Alex Ferguson turned down the chance to sign Zinedine Zidane, before he joined Juventus.
The Frenchman joined the Bianconeri in 1996, winning the Ballon d’Or in Turin two years later, but he could have made the move to England in 1995.
“When Zidane was at Bordeaux, Les Kershaw, the chief scout, was telling me we should be interested in him and I mentioned it to Alex,” Martin Edwards told MUTV.
“Alex said that Eric [Cantona] had also mentioned Zidane to him but Alex felt Zidane played in the same position as Eric.
“Having gone over to France to persuade Eric to re-sign for us, after the Crystal Palace incident [when Cantona was banned for kicking a fan], he felt that, if he had brought Zidane in, it may have affected Eric's position, so he stuck with Eric.”