Zidane named England legend as the 'best in the world' and asked Real Madrid to sign him
Real Madrid’s superiority was challenged in the early 2000s as Valencia disrupted La Liga’s natural order, and Galácticos legend Zinedine Zidane has revealed he requested the signing of an England legend to put Madrid back on their perch.
Zidane and Real’s path to the 2001/02 Champions League final was one of the great knockout runs in club football history, beating Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals and arch-rivals Barcelona in the last four, before besting an elite Bayer Leverkusen team led by Michael Ballack in the final.
The French football legend scored perhaps his most famous goal in that final, volleying home Roberto Carlos’ looped cross from the edge of the box to win the match 2-1.
However, that triumph was the start of somewhat of a trophy drought by Madrid’s own lofty standards. They won the La Liga title the following year, but did not win another top flight title until 2007 and had to wait until 2011 before their next cup win, which was the Copa del Rey.
Barcelona accompanied English and Italian sides in dominating Europe’s elite competition, as Real president Florentino Perez adopted a policy of superstar signings to regain their status as Kings of the continent.
Luis Figo
2000
€60m
Barcelona
Zinedine Zidane
2001
€73.5m
Juventus
Ronaldo Nazario
2002
€45m
Inter
David Beckham
2003
€37.5m
Man Utd
Michael Owen
2004
€9m
Liverpool
Robinho
2005
€24m
Santos
Sergio Ramos
2005
€27m
Sevilla
Fabio Cannavaro
2006
€10m
Juventus
Ruud van Nistelrooy
2006
€14m
Man Utd
Kaka
2009
€67m
Milan
Karim Benzema
2009
€30m
Lyon
Cristiano Ronaldo
2009
€94m
Man Utd
Xabi Alonso
2009
€35.5m
Liverpool
Perez made a habit of luring the Premier League’s top talents to the Spanish capital, with Xabi Alonso revealing how Real tempted him: “I was really happy with the team (Liverpool) and my team-mates and felt that we could do great things.
“I was happy on that side but within a club you have to see the big picture and another season would have been too much for me. It was very difficult to take that decision (to leave) but it was probably for the best for me because if I had stayed another season it would have been uncomfortable for me.”
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However, not everyone caved to the temptation, with Zidane revealing he specifically asked Perez to sign Steven Gerrard, only for the Liverpool captain to refuse the move.
Zidane named Gerrard the 'best player in the world'
Indeed, Real Madrid tried to sign Gerrard once in 2005 and again in 2009, potentially making him one of their biggest signings of the Galácticos era, and Zidane claims it was him who pushed Perez to make the move, as he believed the Reds star was the number one player in world football.
Gerrard is widely regarded as one of the best midfielders in Premier League history despite never winning a league title with Liverpool, while his best finish on the Ballon d’Or podium was third in 2005, placing behind Ronaldinho and Frank Lampard.
There’s no doubt the Liverpool superstar was let down by his teammates in the quest to add team trophies to his individual accolades, and one has to wonder how his status in the game would be viewed if he had joined Madrid at Zidane’s request.