Revealed to the world at the Girondins de Bordeaux, notably thanks to the Bordelais epic in the UEFA Cup during the 1995-96 season, Zinedine Zidane took on yet another dimension at Juventus Turin, where he arrived in the summer of 1996 for 35 million francs (5.3 million euros).
If he became one of the very best players in the world in Piedmont, to the point of winning the Ballon d'Or in 1998 in the wake of the Blues' coronation at the World Cup, the Old Lady nevertheless agreed to let him go to Real Madrid in 2001. A poorly received start among Bianconeri supporters which Luciano Moggi, former general manager of the Turin club, recently returned to for ABC.
And according to the former leader, the transfer of Zinedine Zidane had become inevitable due to the financial difficulties of Juventus and Fiat, its owner. “We were thinking about reshuffling the team, and even though he was a great player, Fiat was not doing well and we had to sell to generate added value,” he said.
Become the most expensive player in the world
The interest of Florentino Perez, the new president of Real Madrid, was therefore a godsend. “I met Florentino Pérez when he was going to run for president of Real Madrid. He came to me and asked if he could use Zidane's name if he won. I said yes, no problem,” he explained.
“The initial price was 70 million lire, but I finally got double (around €80 million), did he remember again. Both parties were satisfied. They made an excellent investment because in addition to the performance on the field, they did a remarkable marketing job. »
Despite the €80 million invested, which made Zinedine Zidane the most expensive player in the world, Real Madrid never regretted the operation, the Marseille native quickly becoming a legend of the Merengue club, whether on the pitch or on the Madrid bench.
