Zidane Too Pricey For Marseille, Admits Tapie
Sunday 22nd April 2001
Marseille general manager Bernard Tapie has ruled out a move for Juventus star Zinedine Zidane - because the fallen giants of French football cannot afford him. "Zidane is financially out of reach and he deserves it because he is a great player," Tapie said.
Zidane, who joined Juve from Bordeaux in 1996, is tipped to leave the Italian giants at the end of the season. But Tapie said: "We couldn't afford players like Zidane or Ronaldo.
"They are guys who earn three million francs (�285,000) tax-free monthly, which means the club would have to spend at least eight million francs (�760,000) every month to have them.
"There are always rumours about Zidane coming here but I can tell you that it is not going to happen in the next few years at least."
But Tapie did confirm that there will be changes at the Stade Velodrome this summer. "We have 39 players under contract and at least 20 will have to leave but I still don't know which ones," he said.
Tapie, who was club president when Marseille won the European Cup in 1993, said he wanted to win the trophy again after returning to the club earlier this month.
"By coming back here, my challenge is to win a European Cup," he said. "I heard some people say France will never be able to clinch another title. It was exactly the same thing when I first came here in 1986 and look at what happened."
