“I offered Zidane a million, but he told me it wasn’t good”

Barry Silkmanformer Manchester City footballer and longtime representative, revealed in a book that the Newcastle He refused to sign Zinedine Zidane in 1996, when he was playing for Girondins de Bordeaux. Silkman was an agent for footballers of the stature of Stam, Micah Richards, Tomas Soucek and Yakubu, but he failed to seal one of the biggest transfers in history: that of ‘Zizou’.

At the time, Silkman had a good relationship with Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan and Zidane was offered to the Magpies manager because he had seen him at Bordeaux and liked his football. However, he was left stunned when Keegan turned down the chance to sign him even though he was only worth £1.2 million.

But years later, Keegan admitted to Silkman that he should have listened to him after watching Zidane become one of the greatest of all time. In his book, ‘The Not-So-Secret Football Agent’, Silkman said: “I learned about the talent of a 24-year-old attacking midfielder in Bordeaux and went to him. His name was Zinedine Zidane, and took it me about five minutes to know that “That child is going to be very special. He is the perfect candidate for a Keegan team.”

And he continued: “”It was January 7, 1996 and I told Kevin that he could sign Zidane for 1.2 million pounds: it was a bargain. I begged him to sign him, but in the end he told me that the boss of “The club’s scout thought I wasn’t good enough and after a few years, Kevin told me he should have listened to me instead of his scout. Zidane finally signed for Juventus and the rest is history.” “More than 20 years later, Kevin told me I was the best agent he had ever met; the only good one in his opinion. Great words from a great man I’ve always gotten along well with over the years. “