Newcastle snubbed chance to sign Zinedine Zidane for £1.2m in 1996

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Newcastle snubbed chance to sign Zinedine Zidane for £1.2m in 1996
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Former Newcastle United manager Kevin Keegan bafflingly rejected the opportunity to sign Zinedine Zidane for just £1.2 million in 1996.

In January 1996, agent and former player Barry Silkman travelled to Bordeaux to watch midfield playmaker Zidane.

Impressed by what he saw, and having already built up an established relationship with Keegan, Silkman offered Zidane to the Magpies' manager.

During that winter, Newcastle were fighting for the Premier League title with Manchester United and Zidane could have been a transformative midseason signing.

However, Newcastle weren't interested in stumping up just £1.2 million for a player who would go on to become one of the game's all-time greats.

READ MORE: David Ginola only joined Tottenham because he had to leave Newcastle

Keegan's chief scout reportedly dismissed Zidane as "hardly good enough for Wolverhampton Wanderers, who were bottom of the Championship at the time.

Writing in his book, "The Not-So Secret Football Agent", Silkman recalled:
I was alerted to the talent of a 24-year-old attacking midfielder at Bordeaux and I went along to watch him.

His name was Zinedine Zidane, and it took me about five minutes to decide that this guy was going to be something very special.

I had brought a number of good players to Newcastle United under Kevin Keegan's reign and every one of them was a success, so Zidane felt like the perfect fit for a Keegan team.

It was 7 January, 1996, and I told Kevin he could sign Zidane for £1.2million - it was a steal.

I begged Kevin to sign him, but in the end he told me his chief scout thought he wasn't good enough and years later, Kevin told me he should have listened to me instead of his scout.

I wish I'd kept the fax that was sent to me from Newcastle United where the chief scout stated, "Silky has grossly overrated the player. At best he is good enough for Wolves, who are bottom of the Championship at present."

I think Zidane was slightly better than the players in struggling Wolves team!
Zidane went on to become one of the greatest footballers of all time, achieving legendary status with Juventus and Real Madrid.

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