Former footballer-turned-agent Barry Silkman claims to have told Newcastle United and Kevin Keegan to sign superstar Zinedine Zidane for a bargain fee prior to his move to Juventus in 1996. The French midfielder went on to become one of the sport's all-time greatest players, having come through the ranks at Cannes and earning a move to Bordeaux in 1992.

The attacking midfielder would spend four years with Les Girondins, where Silkman claims to have watched him in action. The midfielder - who played for Man City, Brentford and Crystal Palace - said he had a good relationship with the then Magpies boss Kevin Keegan and advised him to scout the upcoming star.

"I went out to watch him [Zidane] play. I was told about him, went out to watch him. I watched 45 minutes... He came on at halftime, scored two and made one, but after 15 minutes, you could see" Silkman told the Sunday Edition on talkSPORT.

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"I didn't have to sit there any longer. His brain was two yards quicker than everyone on the pitch. I spoke to the president after the game, and they wanted £1.2million and they said, we'll give you back a commission out of that. I thought it's only one club this guy really suits - Newcastle."

After touching base with the scout, Keegan sent his own scout to watch Zidane in action, but the response wasn't what Silkman had hoped.

"He [Keegan] sent the the scout and I will never forget this, [it was] in the day of the fax machines," he continued. "I get a phone call on the Monday and said, 'Silky, in the next half hour you'll be getting a fax about the player [Zidane].

"The fax came through and I will never, ever forget it. I wished I'd kept it. The fax said: Silky has grossly over-exaggerated the player, and at that time Wolves were bottom of what is now the Championship. I don't even think he could play for Wolves.

"I said to Kevin, whoever it was that went to watch him, sack him."

Zidane would go on to sign for Juventus in a move that would propel him into the stratosphere of world football. Silkman says he played a part in that move, ringing the brother-in-law of Roberto Bettega, the former Juventus player. "I said, Maurizio, go and see your brother-in-law, tell him I've seen a player, Zinedine Zidane, just go and buy him.

"He phoned me back a couple of days later, he said, Silky, they know the player, they really like him, the rest is history!"