Soccer
Zidane offered to and rejected by Premier League giant
Former agent Barry Silkman has revealed the incredible story of an English club who turned down the chance to sign Zinedine Zidane.

It was January 1996. There was no social media, the internet was still in its infancy and the talents of world soccer did not move so quickly towards the European giants. At that time there was a 24-year-old French international playing for Girondins de Bordeaux who was beginning to make a name for himself. That name was Zinedine Zidane.
The Marseille native had broken through with his performances in the Intertoto Cup the previous summer, providing five goals and one assist from midfield. He stood out in the French League and starred in the UEFA Cup.
Alerted to his talent, agent and former player Barry Silkman traveled to Bordeaux to watch the young prospect. He was spell-bound: “I went to see him and it took me five minutes to decide that this boy had something very special.”

The intermediary has revealed that he had one destination in mind for ‘Zizou’: Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle United. “I had brought several good players to Newcastle for Kevin Keegan and they were all a success. Zidane seemed the perfect candidate for a Keegan team,” he explained.
In January 1996 the Magpies were fighting for the Premier League title with Manchester United and Zidane could have been a transformative midseason signing. But the Northeastern club turned him down, Silkman explains. “It was January 7, 1996 and I told Keegan that I could sign Zidane for £1.2m. It was a steal. I asked him to sign him but he told me that his chief scout thought he wasn’t good enough."
Newcastle’s refusal to sign Zidane, Silkman added, was not even particularly polite. He explained: “I wish I still had the fax they sent me from Newcastle in which their chief scout said ‘Silky has greatly overrated this player. At best he is good enough for Wolverhampton, who are bottom of the second division right now.‘"
Newcastle missed their chance and the rest is history. The following summer Zidane left for Juventus for €3.5 million after finishing runner-up in the UEFA Cup with Bordeaux. In 1998 he announced himself on the global stage with a totemic performance at the World Cup with France, also winning Serie A and the Italian Super Cup with Juventus. Soon after the Frenchman signed for Real Madrid and struck an unforgettable volley in the 2001 Champions League final to clinch another European crown. He led France to the silver medal at the 2006 World Cup in Germany and retired immediately after the tournament as a bona fide sporting legend.
Despite being forced to watch that glittering career unfold from afar, Silkman has managed to keep a sense of humour regarding one of the all-time greats that got away. He revealed: “Years later, Kevin admitted to me that he should have listened to me instead of his scout.”
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