The Best Real Madrid Scout.. Players brought by Zinedine Zidane to Real Madrid!

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Over the past years, Zinedine Zidane has contributed to bringing many stars to Real Madrid even without having a major role in the club.

Since his retirement in 2006, France's Zinedine Zidane status with Spanish club Real Madrid and its fans has been on the rise, given the many roles he has played both outside and inside the stadium.

Within the stadium, Zidane's career as a coach during two terms with Real Madrid speaks for itself. The French coach, who has not overseen the management of any team other than the Royal Club, has achieved 11 diverse titles, most notably of course a consecutive Champions League treble, and two La Liga titles.

But beyond what Zizo did on the field, Zidane's role as a consultant to the Royal Club proves that Real Madrid have one of the most important expert eyes on player discovery in perhaps football history.

Zidane has played a role in many players joining Real since his retirement, and given his aura since he was a player, he has the ability to influence the stars and persuade them to join Real Madrid.

The Real Madrid roster over the past years included several players who Zidane drew the attention of the royal administration towards, proving "Zizo" to be perhaps the greatest scout in Real Madrid.

Frank Ribery

Although Frank Ribery never passed as a player on Real Madrid, he was one of the first recommended by Zizo to run the royal club.

Zidane remarked Ribery in 2004 when he was a player at Metz Club, where he said of the 20-year-old then: "He will be one of the best players in France."

A year later, Ribery moved to Marseille, and Zidane pressed to become a starter at the 2006 World Cup, where he was one of the reasons why the "Roosters" reached the final of the World Cup.

When Ribery moved to Germany's Bayern Munich, Zidane returned to recommend Florentino Pérez sign him, but by then the process was impossible.

Karim Benzema

In 2009, Real Madrid signed striker Karim Benzema from French club Lyon.

The BBC confirmed at the time that Zidane, who was a Real Madrid adviser, recommended Florentino Perez, the club's president, make an offer to Benzema.

Real Madrid's move towards Benzema came after negotiations to sign David Villa, then playing for Valencia, failed before his move to Barcelona.

Benzema's career with Real Madrid continued until the summer of 2023, with his departure to the Saudi Federation Club, with the Royal Club achieving numerous titles and records both in scoring and in goal-making.

Rafael Varane

French defender Rafael Varane was a clear example of Zidane's ability to identify talent when he sees it.

In 2011, while serving as Florentino Pérez's adviser, Zidane recommended that President Real Madrid sign the teenage defender who was then playing for Lance.

Zidane's role was not only to recommend Varane, but also to persuade him personally when he telephoned him, and Varan later said of that conversation: "It was impossible to say no."

Varane's career was remarkable with Real Madrid, and over the course of 10 seasons he formed a brilliant double with Sergio Ramos, until the Frenchman left for Manchester United in the summer of 2021.

Eden Hazard
Ayn Zidane picked up Belgian talent Eden Hazard when he was just 16, during his time playing for French club Lille.

Zidane instructed Real Madrid to move towards Hazard several years later, but Chelsea were quicker to sign the Frenchman in the summer of 2012, as the Belgian spent seven years shining in a Blues shirt at Stamford Bridge.

Hazard's arrival in Real Madrid came in the summer of 2019 when Zidane was manager of the Royal Club, but the Belgian's career at the Santiago Bernabeu was disappointing and was dominated by injuries to leave in the summer of 2023 with little benefit provided with the team.

Verlan Mendy
In summer 2019, when Zidane was Real Madrid manager, he signed French full-back Verlan Mendy from the Lyon club, in a deal worth 50 million euros.

Zidane's decision to bet on Mendy was not a loving option for the fans of the Royal Club at the time, as the left-back was not known to everyone.

Lyon's historic boss Jean-Michel Aulas confirmed that Zidane's call with Mendy played a big role in persuading the full-back to join the ranks of the Royal Club.

Aulas told the Spanish newspaper Marka: "Mendy was a deal with a special request from Zidane, and the player did not resist when he called him and left."

Mendy offers a massive defensive addition to Real Madrid on the left side, when injuries do not hit him, and he is one of the most prominent players in the Royal Club and is fully fit, to once again confirm the success of Zidane's bets on the players.

Aurelian Chuamini

Although Zidane had already left as manager of Real Madrid in the summer of 2021, he played a part in young midfielder Aurelian Chuamini joining the Royal Club from Monaco in the summer of 2022.

The Spanish newspaper AS confirmed that Zizo played a key role in Chuamini's move to Real Madrid, noting that it was a similar role to what he played with Varane in 2011.

ISCO

In 2013, when Isco was playing for Malaga, he had a chance to move to English side Manchester City, but he preferred to join Real Madrid after an intervention from Zidane.

The Marca newspaper confirmed that Zidane personally reached out to Isco, and was able to convince the player to move to the Royal Club.

Federico Valverde

As a coach, Zidane staked a number of risky bets, in which many accused him of insanity, perhaps the most notable of which was Uruguayan Federico Valverde.

Zidane was the first to place his confidence in Valverde, who started to the first team at the Royal Club during the 2019-20 season, and gained full confidence from the French coach.

The Verde then became one of the most important young elements of the Real Madrid battalion, both in midfield and on the right side of the field.

Marco Asensio

Zidane's personal contact with the players played a significant role in the arrival of many young stars in Real Madrid, and Marco Asensio may have been one of them.

Asensio joined Real Madrid in the summer of 2014 from Real Mallorca, after a long struggle with Barcelona, but the call "Zizo" was crucial in his move to Real Madrid.

Eduardo Camavinga

Zidane played an important role in convincing Camavinga to move to Real Madrid from Rennes in the summer of 2021.

Zidane was impressed by the potential of the young midfielder, and English website "90min" revealed that Camavinga had overtaken N'Golo Kante, and then became at the top of Zidane's list of interest.

The newspaper "as" for its part confirmed at the time that Zidane had developed a great relationship with Camavinga, so much so that Real Madrid then became the only club he wanted to join, and it actually happened eventually even though Zizo left the Real madrid.

Jude Bellingham

England's Jude Bellingham is the latest to join Real Madrid at the instigation of Zinedine Zidane.

Bellingham moved to Real Madrid in the summer of 2023 from Borussia Dortmund, Germany, in a deal worth 103 million euros.

Bellingham was so influenced by Zidane that he wore the No. 5 shirt, which Zizo wore during his time playing for the Royal Club.

Anyone who watched the Bellingham press conference while introducing a new player for Real Madrid had no doubt about Zidane's status as an icon and a higher example for the English star.