Legendary Premier League owner worth £600m vetoed Zinedine Zidane signing because he already had Tim Sherwood
ZINEDINE ZIDANE could have found himself playing in the Premier League in the 90s.
The French footie legend lit up Ligue 1 in the 90s with Bordeaux before securing a huge move to Juventus in the summer of 1996.
The midfielder’s displays caught the eye of several scouts, including those of Blackburn Rovers.
In fact, Zidane even visited Rovers’ training ground a few months after they pipped Manchester United to the 1994/95 Premier League title.
But then club owner Sir Jack Walker didn’t pursue a move for the future global icon, a decision Rovers fans are no doubt cursing.
The reason why: because he already had the services of Tim Sherwood at his disposal.
During an appearance on the Squeaky Bum Time podcast, Sherwood said: “We were English champions and Zidane and Christophe Dugarry came to the training ground to have a look around.
“It was an impressive training ground, by the way, but they decided or Jack Walker decided that they weren’t going to join us.
“I think he was wrong. It was probably more coming from the heart than his head.
“He was a very astute businessman but when it came to football and when it came to his club, which was Blackburn Rovers, he just played with his heart all the time.
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“And on this occasion, I think he was wrong.”
The late Walker, who passed away in August 2000, is said to have been gobsmacked by then manager Ray Harford’s interest in signing Zizou.
He said: “Why do you want to sign Zidane when we have Tim Sherwood?”
Nineties and noughties footies icon Zidane would go on to win a litany of trophies with Juve and Real.
Zidane would win two Serie A titles with the Old Lady as well as the Suppercoppa Italian and the Uefa Super Cup.
He’d win a solitary La Liga title with Los Blancos, whom he also won the Champions League and Super Cup with.
Blackburn have only tasted glory once since their historic Prem victory, beating Tottenham in 2002 to win the League Cup.