Real Madrid reportedly chose to ignore the advice of Zinedine Zidane last summer in their pursuit to sign a central midfielder. The club were looking for a dynamic passer who could operate from the centre of the field after losing Xabi Alonso to Bayern Munich.
Then-manager, Rafael Benitez, signed Croatian international Mateo Kovacic from Inter Milan but according to Sport, the club's then-B-team manager Zinedine Zidane had put forward the pros of signing Belgian Kevin de Bruyne – who had a delightful season for VFL Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga.
The 24-year-old was Zidane's preferred choice given his form and game sense with the Germans. The report further states that Rafael Benitez spoke to and convinced club president Florentino Perez that the right midfield player for the club was the Croat.
Manchester City were also in the need for a few midfield stars after losing the likes of Jack Rodwell, James Milner and Gareth Barry. They pounced on Real Madrid's reluctance to sign the former Chelsea man with a €75 million offer Wolfsburg could simply not ignore.
Real Madrid paid around €34 million for the 21-year-old Inter midfielder who has so far failed to live up to his expectations at the Bernabeu. Kevin de Bruyne, meanwhile, has already scored 15 goals and assisted a further 9 even though he was out for a chunk of the season with a knee injury.
Zinedine Zidane will now the unfortunate fate of facing the player he wanted to sign when Manchester City host Real Madrid at the Etihad later tonight. The Frenchman will have Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema all fit for the superstar UEFA Champions League semi-final clash whereas Manuel Pellegrini – a former Real Madrid manager himself – will be without the services of his star central midfielder Yaya Toure.
