Transfer history: Zidane, Henry and Blanc

In the book 'Wie is Johan Cruijff? Insiders duiden het orakel' (Who is Johan Cruijff? Insiders explain the oracle) by Dutch writers Mik Schots and Jan Luitzen, former Barcelona manager Johan Cruijff (60) talks about how Barcelona president Josep Lluís Núñez didn't let him buy any more players at the end of his term:

"In January or February of the year 1996, I had a verbal agreement with Zinédine Zidane and Thierry Henry and a few other players with whom I had a good personal relationship because we had the same ideas on the way of playing and because our characters matched. When I had to leave Barcelona, I told them: 'Take your own decision. If you still want to come to Barcelona, you should do it. If you don't want to come, you shouldn't do it.' From the three or four French players who would have come and play with us, Laurent Blanc was the only one who had already signed when I left. The others decided not to come."


French playmaker Zinédine Zidane (35) was at that time playing for Bordeaux. In the end, Zidane moved in the summer of 1996 to Juventus. French forward Thierry Henry (30) was playing for Monaco. In January of 1999, Henry left for Juventus. Henry later came to Barcelona in the summer of 2007.

French central defender Laurent Blanc (42) joined Barcelona from Auxere in the summer of 1996. After just one year, Blanc returned to France and joined Olympique Marseille because he wanted to play as a regular in view of the 1998 World Cup. In 1996 Blanc won the Spanish Super Cup with Barcelona.

(read all Barcelona transfer history stories here --- or just read the stories of Luis Fabiano Cesc Ben Arfa)