8. Zinedine Zidane (And Christophe Dugarry) To Blackburn Rovers
I've mentioned this one before but it's such a good story it bears repeating. Kenny Dalglish had led Blackburn Rovers to the Premier League title in the 1994/95, with an almost all-British squad powered by the goals of Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton. For their title defence, the Scotsman wanted to add some Gallic flair alongside the club's British steel. To that end, Dalglish had lined up a deal for French duo Zinedine Zidane and Christoph Dugarry. Terms had been agreed in principle with the players and their club Bordeaux, and all he had to do was convince Rovers chairman Jack Warner to part with the cash to seal the deal. He wouldn't turn down a request from his title winning manager now, would he? He absolutely would. Warner did not see the need to improve the champions, asking Dalglish "why do you want to sign Zidane when we have Tim Sherwood?". Things didn't work out too well for Rovers and their English Zidane, and the champions finished just 7th the following season, after Dalglish had "moved upstairs" to become Director of Football, succeeded by Ray Harford. Zidane joined Juventus in 1996 and went on to become a Galactico at Real Madrid, while Dugarry left Bordeaux for Milan. He did eventually secure a Premier League switch in 2003 and became a cult hero at Birmingham City. These days, Blackburn wallow in England's second tier, but it could have been so different had the two future World Cup winners been strutting their stuff at Ewood park in the mid-90's.