The year 1996 was the time when Johan Cruyff was literally at civil war with the Barcelona chiefs. The board were frustrated with the results. Meanwhile, the legendary Dutchman was accusing the boar of being too passive in terms of transfers.
For instance, Cruyff desperately wanted to sign Zinedine Zidane and urged the club to bring him to Camp Nou, according to Jonathan Wilson's book The Barcelona Legacy: Guardiola, Mourinho and the Fight for Football's Soul.
However, in 1996 the Frenchman left Bordeaux for Juventus. "He’s going to Italy?" furious Cruyff replied when asked about Zizou. "I had him signed in January!"
What Cruyff meant was that he had reached a verbal agreement with Zidane in the winter of 1996.
"I conducted the negotiations myself for if the board found out about the deal, it would appear in all the papers," Cruyff explained later.
"I signed a deal with Romario and I hoped to sign Zidane and Blanc (Laurent) during my last season with Barca. When they sacked me, I called Zidane and explained to him that our agreement was annulled. He thanked me and that was the end of the matter."
Zidane spent five seasons at Juventus and won the Ballon d'Or before signing for Real Madrid in 2001 for a world record fee of €77.5m.
Latest news
