What if Zinedine Zidane would have joined Newcastle United in 1996?

In the summer of 1996, two powerful forces could have combined to create a super team that could have blown all away in their sight. Zinedine Zidane had helped Bordeaux to become a top team in France over the previous four seasons and they reached the UEFA cup final before he departed for Juventus. Newcastle United had narrowly missed out on their first league title in 69 years, Kevin Keegan and the hordes of Geordies showed so much passion whilst on the pitch, David Ginola, Les Ferdinand and Faustino Asprilla brought the pragmatic skill to back up the talk.

It was to no avail but the key signing of Alan Shearer was vital for the Magpies, what if they added the great Zinedine Zidane, let’s analyse this and delve into an alternative universe…

Zizou, what left is there to say about him? One of the greatest players to have graced the game, a scorer of wonderful goals, magical touches, fantastic vision, and skill to match anyone. His career could have taken a different turn in 1996. The great one who had just won the player of the season award at Bordeaux was heavily tipped to sign for the Magpies for a sum of 1.2 million pounds.

No longer up and coming Zidane had spent an incredible four seasons at the Girondins de Bordeaux club and was proving to be quite an effective player. In his time at Bordeaux, he scored 39 goals for 179 appearances in all competitions. The highlights reel of his career in the French capital of wine is a fantastic display of tormenting defenders, outstanding free-kicks, and brilliant pass accuracy.

With everything laid bare, it is a surprise that he did not get major success at Bordeaux, the team included the likes of Christophe Dugarry and Bixente Lizarazu, both would be part of France’s 1998 and 2000 squads.

It is safe to say that his connection with David Ginola and the likes of Faustino Asprilla and Les Ferdinand would have been exciting. Newcastle had risen from the ashes to compete against Manchester United for the league title and almost gave Sir Alex Ferguson a scare. Kevin Keegan’s exhilarating style of play coupled with a strong defence meant that Newcastle kept winning up until February.

A streak of just one win in six matches including, one of the most famous games in the history of the Premier League, Newcastle’s 4-3 loss to Liverpool which eventually cost the Magpies the league title. Four points was the difference between Newcastle and the Red Devils. In the run in, Newcastle only scored one goal per game in the last five games of the season. Keegan signed the legendary Alan Shearer that summer of 96. They had only managed one game all season with more than three goals a 6-1 win over Wimbledon, this would change the next season.

With Alan Shearer, Newcastle had solved their slight goalscoring issue. They scored more than three goals on seven occasions including a massive 7-1 win over Tottenham. However, in a stretch of seven games around Christmas, they drew four matches and lost three others, costing Newcastle in the title race. Manchester United won more comfortably this time around as Eric Cantona and company were not forgiving. With that stretch, it is worth considering that Zidane’s brilliance could have converted some of those draws into wins and the three losses into draws as every single one of the defeats were by one goal.

Zidane Was audacious, he would take the ball down and keep it in front of the defender before turning his opponent to find the pass or take a shot that most other players would never dare to make. With the players potentially around him including Alan Sherer who scored 31, 34, and 31 goals again in the previous seasons and a further 25 in the 1996-97 season, it is fair to say that Zidane would have relished it. This run would have turned into 15 points instead of just four, an extra 11 points that would have seen them finish champions for the first time since 1927.

What would have happened to the great Frenchman? Juventus had just won the Champions League in 1996. In 1996-97, Zidane’s performances for the Bianconeri gained another league title and a second trip to the Champions League final in a row losing to Borussia Dortmund. Zidane tearing through the defense of Serie A teams with ease, you can imagine what his time at Newcastle would have been like. He had the likes of Christian Vieri, Alessandro Del Piero, and Alen Boksic similar to the situation he could have had in the North-East of England.

A second season at Juventus produced yet another league title and a Champions League final and once he joined the French national team, he won the FIFA World Cup. It is safe to say he would have had an incredible partnership with Alan Shearer. Would it have sufficed against Manchester United in 96-97 or Arsenal in 97-98? We can only guess, but in 1997 he may have been the difference maker. However, Newcastle was far from the race in 1998, and they lost by one goal in 13 of their 16 defeats. With Zidane there, Newcastle may have gone further in the Champions League winning their group over Dynamo Kyiv thus facing Juventus in the Quarter-finals. Newcastle would have finished much higher but possibly not in the top four.

The injury to Shearer was pivotal and he never fully recovered that season eventually scoring a low tally of two goals in 17 appearances. Zidane could have finished with an FA Cup beating the champions, Arsenal. His Ballon d’Or may have never happened despite France winning the World Cup, instead, he would have won it in 2000. He would have joined Real Madrid sooner, the Galacticos not necessarily needing him to win the Champions League at the turn of the millennium.

Zinedine Zidane is one of the great players of World football. His time at Juventus propelled him on the World stage and the World Cup in 1998 cemented his place as a Greatest of All Time player. Newcastle would not have provided this, too many hypothetical answers rest on the potential of Newcastle winning the league in 1997 and then pushing on to reach a Champions League final in 1998.

In this alternative universe, Newcastle use that success of the late 90s to become one of the greatest teams of the 2000’s winning a couple more league titles and a couple of runs to the Champions League final. More players join the Magpies, and the turnaround in revenue from global sponsorship, television rights money, and shirt sales allow them to comfortably replace their top players. Possibly changing the landscape of English football for the rest of eternity.