Real Madrid legend Zinedine Zidane has increased the heat to the simmering fire ahead of Saturday’s eagerly anticipated El Clasico derby by revealing the club never had any intention of signing Barcelona’s Luis Suarez.
Suarez is set to finally make his Barcelona debut at the Bernabeu having served a four-month ban for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini while playing for Uruguay at this year’s World Cup.
Although Real Madrid was heavily linked with the player in the summer, Zidane insists the club never wanted him.
Zidane said: ‘There are always reports linking the big players with Real Madrid, but we had no contact with Liverpool regarding Suarez in the summer – he is not a player that we felt we needed.
‘When Real Madrid want a player we work very hard to get the transfer done, but it was not a player we wanted.’
He added: ‘He (Suarez) is obviously a very good player, but it was not a player we feel we needed to add to the squad.
‘The players we acquired in the summer were exactly the players we wanted.’