Zidane repays his world record transfer to Madrid in prize money

BeSoccer reports that 16 years after joining Real Madrid as a player for a world record fee, Zinedine Zidane has helped Los Blancos to recoup that fee thanks to the prize money they have picked up since he has been in charge at the Bernabeu.

The French midfielder signed from Italian side Juventus in 2001 for a fee of £47m, which at the time was the equivalent of €77m.

But according to Spanish publication ‘Marca’, after just 18 months at the helm of the club he used to play for, Zidane has already earned the European champions £100m (€109m) in prize money.

The majority of the winnings are the result of back-to-back Champions League triumphs, as Real Madrid became the first team to achieve this feat since start of the new format of the European competition.

Zidane stepped up halfway through the 2015-16 season as a replacement for the sacked Rafa Benitez and he guided the ‘merengue’ club to Champions League victory and earned them £27m (€29.5m) in the process.

However it was his first full season in charge of the La Liga club where he made the club the most winnings.

Frenchman brought in a further £50m (€54.2m), after another successful Champions League campaign as well as Super Cup and Club World Cup wins.

With another Super Cup trophy secured earlier this month and a mid-season trip to the Club World Cup still to come, Madrid’s prize money will rise further.

If the side from the Spanish capital go on to become the first team win the biggest European club competition for three years in a row since Bayern Munich in the 1970s, Zidane could end the year having repaid his once world record transfer fee twice over.

In reality, Zidane’s performances as a player had already justified the money paid to sign him, being an integral part of the team which won two Super Cups and one Champions League.

But in the early days of his managerial career, he continues to make sure that every penny the club spent on him his money well spent.