Franck Ribery has confirmed that Zinedine Zidane did try to convince him to sign for Real Madrid in the past, whilst Barcelona were also ‘close’.
The Bayern Munich man has been linked on and off in recent years with a switch out to Spain, but has remained in the Bundesliga, where after a strong 2013, he is seen as one of the favourites to win the Ballon d’Or in January.
“My chances look good. This season has been one of my best years and I was fortunate enough to win it all,” considered Ribery of the Ballon d’Or Award.
“We’ll see what happens, Cristiano Ronaldo is a great player.”
The Frenchman then reflected on previous links with Madrid and Barca.
“Yes it is true, Zizou wanted me to sign for Madrid and I still give thanks for that interest, because he did everything to convince me,” Ribery conceded to BeInSport this week.
“But in the end I stayed with Bayern, who are like my family. Barcelona and Real Madrid are both great teams and there was a time when I was close to both and I liked them both.
“There was also a moment where I felt closer to Madrid than to Barcelona.”
