Zinedine Zidane has admitted for the first time that Real Madrid attempted to sign Paul Pogba from Juventus this summer.
Pogba eventually signed for Manchester United for a world record transfer fee despite interest from Los Blancos and the French coach being a public long-term admirer of his compatriot.
"He could have come," Zidane told French radio station RMC after being asked about Pogba's move.
"There were conversations to try and sign him but….well, it didn't go ahead."
The 23-year-old returned to Old Trafford in August after a long summer of negotiations while Real Madrid’s only summer signing was striker Alvaro Morata, also from Juventus.
Real Madrid are now banned from making any signings to their squad for the next two transfer windows and will need to wait until January 2018 before making any further additions, which makes missing out on Pogba an even bigger blow.
There have been talks of the club recalling Marcos Llorente from his loan spell at Alaves early due to injuries to Casemiro and Luka Modric, but this now appears unlikely.
