Real Madrid signed Kovacic instead of De Bruyne
Kevin de Bruyne is one of the big threats to Real Madrid when they play Manchester City on Tuesday, but he could have been lining up in a Madrid shirt instead. Last summer, Zinedine Zidane recommended the then Wolfsburg player to Florentino Perez, according to a report published by OKDiario.
During the last pre-season, Madrid were scouring the market for a young player at a high level to improve their squad. Zidane said the best bet was De Bruyne. However, Madrid didn’t make a serious effort to sign the Belgian international who had led the modest Wolfsburg into the Champions League.
Zidane met opposition in the form of Rafa Benitez, who had just taken over as Real Madrid’s manager. The Madrid-born coach was opposed to going all out for De Bruyne and convinced Perez that the player Madrid needed was Mateo Kovacic, 21. Los Blancos made the necessary moves and brought in the Inter midfielder for around 35 million euros.
In exchange, Manchester City believed in the quality of De Bruyne and took him to the Etihad Stadium for 75 million euros. Now, while Madrid fans ask why the Croatian Kovacic was signed, City are delighted with the Belgian, who has become one of the side’s key players, along with Sergio Aguero.
De Bruyne has scored 15 goals in all competitions this season and has set up nine more, despite a spell on the sidelines. On many occasions he has been the player who has made the difference and is without doubt one the the big dangers facing Madrid over their two games with the Premier League side.
