Zidane desired four players if he accepted the Manchester United job.
According to reports, Zinedine Zidane ‘demanded’ that Manchester United buy four players if he was to take over as manager, with the club eventually agreeing to a deal for one.
Zidane has been linked with the United manager’s job on several times since his second departure from Real Madrid in 2021.
He was considered the front-runner to succeed Erik ten Hag before the Dutchman was fired in November.
The club eventually hired Ruben Amorim, and Zidane is still out of job.
According to Turkish media, he has achieved a ‘preliminary agreement’ to replace Jose Mourinho at Fenerbahce.
Zidane has previously stated that the language barrier prevents him from going to England.
The Turkish heavyweights were knocked out of the Champions League this season after a shocking aggregate loss to Benfica.
The France midfielder is fluent in French and Spanish, and while he knows English, he told L’Equipe in 2022 that he has not mastered it.
Zidane’s other main worry when managing a club, he told L’Equipe, is if the club is in a position to win championships.
According to the Daily Mirror, the Frenchman had a list of four transfer targets in case he was approached to replace the under-pressure Mourinho at Old Trafford back in 2018.
Three of them had been managed by Zidane or competed against him in La Liga.
The first was James Rodriguez, who was on loan at Bayern Munich from Real Madrid at the time and would later join Everton in the Premier League two years later.
The second was Toni Kroos, who said that he was on the verge of signing for United under David Moyes in 2014 before the Scot was fired and replaced by Louis van Gaal.
The third player was Thiago Alcantara, a former Barcelona and Bayern Munich midfielder who signed for Liverpool in the summer of 2020.
Only Zidane’s fourth target, Edinson Cavani, would move to Old Trafford during his playing career.
He joined United on a free transfer in 2020, after leaving Paris Saint-Germain.
The striker had a fantastic first season, netting 17 goals in all competitions, but only scored twice in his second, and his playing time was limited with Cristiano Ronaldo’s arrival. He eventually joined Valencia in 2022.
Cavani, 38, is still an active footballer, currently playing for Boca Juniors in the Argentine Premier Division.
He missed Boca’s first two Club World Cup group stage matches, but the Uruguayan started the 1-1 draw against Auckland City as the Argentine giants were ousted from the competition.
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