Fans, team-mates and club officials did not want to see the icon retire, so much so that the Blancos supremo was ready to bust out the cheque book
Former Real Madrid right-back Cicinho has revealed that club president Florentino Perez essentially offered Zinedine Zidane a blank cheque to prevent him from retiring back in 2006, with the incident having happened in the dressing room after Zizou's final club match.
Los Blancos played out a 3-3 draw with Villarreal at the Santiago Bernabeu in Zidane's last game, the iconic midfielder having struggled to hold back the tears as he waved goodbye to fans in the Spanish capital.