Barcelona is one of the biggest clubs in LaLiga, but things could have been different in the mid 90s. According to a former Inter Milan player, the Blaugranas were trying to build a super-team with Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and him before Real Madrid did it a few years later.
One of the most important rivalries in soccer is the one between Barcelona and Real Madrid. Both clubs have built very competitive squads lately, even by ‘stealing’ some transfer targets from the other in order to make them weaker.
In the early 2000s, Real Madrid signed some of the most important players in that time to create the Galacticos. This team dominated LaLiga and other competitions with some stars like Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo. Now, it has been revealed that history could have been different as Barcelona was thinking also in bluiding that super-team before its rivals.
Barcelona was close to sign Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo before they arrived to Real Madrid
The Galacticos was a group of top players that Real Madrid was able to sign in the early 2000s. Figo, David Beckham, Kaka, Zidane and Ronaldo, amongst others, were part of it, but the two last mentioned were near to be left outside of it.
According toYouri Djorkaeff, former Inter Milan star, revealed that Barcelona was interested in Zizou, Ronaldo and him to build a super-team before Real Madrid, but the deal was never completed and they took separate ways.
“Barcelona even hoped to team me up with Ronaldo and Zidane,” said Djorkaeff to L’Equipe. “However, [Johan] Cruyff was honest. He called me to tell me that I might not be able to make it to the Barcelona bench anymore. That’s what happened. Then I went to Inter. [Joan] Gaspart told my father that you couldn’t turn down Barcelona unless you were a madman or a god…. I’ll let you imagine what my father replied.”
