Manchester United had a chance to sign Zinedine Zidane in 1996, but Martin Edwards claims Sir Alex Ferguson blocked the move because of another French player in the Manchester United squad at the time.

Sir Alex Ferguson made many great decisions in the transfer market, but there were also bad calls when it came to new signings, letting Jaap Stam go too early, and opting to pass on talented players. The positives certainly outweigh the negatives when it comes to the best football manager of all time.

When Manchester United fans talk about Ferguson’s greatest signings, the most frequent contenders include Eric Cantona, Roy Keane, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Peter Schmeichel. And it’s no secret United missed out on a few players who could have joined that list, such as Ronaldinho.

Another player that could have ended up at United was Zinedine Zidane, before becoming one of the best players of his generation for Juventus, Real Madrid and France.

Sir Alex Ferguson didn’t want to upset Eric Cantona by signing Zinedine Zidane

Former United chairman Martin Edwards rejected the opportunity to try and sign Zinedine before he moved to Italy in the summer of 1996.

Zidane left Bordeaux for Juventus, where he played for five seasons and won two Serie A titles and the Italian Cup before signing for Real Madrid. He also helped France to win the 1998 World Cup.

However, Ferguson believed that signing Zidane could have had a detrimental effect on Cantona, who was the catalyst in his young side. This led to Ferguson declining the opportunity to make a deal.

“We had the chance of getting Lineker, but Ron [Atkinson] turned that one down,” Edwards told Keys & Gray Unleashed when asked about big-name players United didn’t sign while he was chairman.

“We had the chance with [Alan] Shearer; we would’ve won a lot more with Shearer in our squad, and the other one was Paul Gascoigne. Those three stand out. There was also a chance where we could have got Zidane. But we had Cantona at the time, and Alex didn’t want to upset Cantona, and the following season Eric left and retired.”

As Edwards correctly pointed out, Cantona opted to retire a year later, much to the shock of everyone at Old Trafford. It meant Ferguson’s vision met an unexpected hurdle when he could’ve added another iconic Frenchman to his squad.