Zinedine Zidane Demanded Four Players at Man Utd And Only One Was Signed

Zinedine Zidane 'demanded' that Manchester United sign four players if he was to join the club as manager, it was reported - with the club eventually doing a deal for one of them.

Zidane has been linked with the United manager's role on a number of occasions either side of his second departure from Real Madrid in 2021.

He was, at various stages, the favourite to replace Erik ten Hag before the Dutchman was sacked last November.

The club eventually appointed Ruben Amorim, and Zidane is still currently out of work.

Reports from Turkish outlet claim he has reached a 'preliminary agreement' to replace Jose Mourinho at Fenerbahce.

Zidane has previously ruled himself out of moving to England due to the language barrier.

The Turkish giants recently suffered a surprise aggregate loss to Benfica that eliminated them from this season's Champions League.

The France midfielder speaks fluent French and Spanish and, while he understands English, told L'Equipe in 2022 that he hasn't mastered the language.

The other key concern for Zidane when it comes to managing a club, he added to L'Equipe, is whether they are in a position to win trophies.

According to the Daily Mirror, the Frenchman identified a list of four transfer targets in the event he was contacted to replace the under-pressure Mourinho at Old Trafford back in 2018.

Three of them had either been managed by Zidane or played against him in La Liga.

The first of those was James Rodriguez, who was on loan at Bayern Munich from Real at the time and would subsequently move to the Premier League with Everton two years later.

The second was Toni Kroos, who revealed that he was moments away from agreeing to sign for United under David Moyes in 2014 before the Scot was sacked and replaced by Louis van Gaal.

Thiago Alcantara was the third player, with the then-Bayern Munich midfielder - previously of Barcelona - eventually signing for Liverpool in the summer of 2020.

Only Zidane's fourth target - Edinson Cavani - would make the move to Old Trafford during his playing career.

He signed for United on a free transfer, also in 2020, after leaving Paris Saint-Germain.

The striker had a successful first season, scoring 17 goals in all competitions, but only scored twice in his second and his playing time was reduced by the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo. He subsequently joined Valencia in 2022.

Now 38, Cavani is still an active player and currently plays for Argentine Premier Division side Boca Juniors.

He missed Boca's opening two Club World Cup group stage matches, but the Uruguayan did start the 1-1 draw against Auckland City as the Argentine giants were eliminated from the competition.