Zinedine Zidane is one of the greatest footballers to have ever stepped foot on the pitch. With grace and poise combined with enviable power and nastiness, the Frenchman just about did it all. Winning domestic honours, as well as a Champions League, European Championship, and World Cup, playing in the Premier League is one of the only things the legendary midfielder never managed in his illustrious career.

Zidane's style would’ve surely made him a perfect fit for English football, and it nearly happened through the unlikely source of Blackburn Rovers. While he never played a minute in what has become the best league in the world, he still appreciated it from afar. In 2016, the 52-year-old named his greatest XI to play in the Premier League, with some incredible names like Roy Keane and Wayne Rooney failing to make the cut.

Goalkeeper and Defence

Peter Schmeichel, Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand, Jaap Stam, Ashley Cole

It was almost a Manchester United clean sweep in the backline, as four out of the five players listed had their most successful years in English football at Old Trafford. Between the sticks sits the Great Dane, Peter Schmeichel. Signed from Brondby for as little as £500,000, the former number one remains one of the best bargains in Premier League history. Schmeichel kept 128 clean sheets in the division, where he also featured for Aston Villa and Manchester City.

Gary Neville and Rio Ferdinand take up one half of the defence, with the English pair building a synonymous partnership side by side for club and country in the mid-2000s. Alongside the former Leeds and West Ham prodigy is the Dutch destroyer, Jaap Stam. The former Lazio man made his mark against Zidane during the 1998/1999 treble-winning season, where the Red Devils beat Zidane's Juventus in the Champions League semi-final.

Finally, Ashley Cole is the only non-United player to make the grade, with the former Arsenal and Chelsea man widely regarded as not only the best left-back in Premier League history but one of the best, period.

Midfield

Steven Gerrard, Claude Makelele, Patrick Vieira, Paul Scholes

In terms of an actual in-game system, Zidane may have gone too narrow with his midfield selection. That said, with the amount of talent on display, there’s every chance they could find a way to dismantle any team. The first inclusion in the engine room is Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard. The all-action midfielder remains the greatest player never to win a Premier League medal, and he is surrounded by three men who have managed to do so.

Claude Makelele was an international teammate of ‘Zizou,’ and he’s an incredibly underrated figure for his impact as one of the first recognised holding midfield players—a role that the likes of N’Golo Kante have since shown to be vital for a team’s balance.

Patrick Vieira is another French name to make it into the team and could be an option as captain alongside Gerrard and Neville. Finally, Paul Scholes takes the remaining position. The admiration between him and Zidane is well publicised, with the latter calling Scholes the greatest midfielder of their generation.

Attack

Thierry Henry, Cristiano Ronaldo

The front two consist of players Zidane knows all too well for different reasons. In Thierry Henry, the former Galactico picks someone many consider the greatest Premier League player in history. The Arsenal hero was a unique force when he first moved across the French border, eventually becoming the league’s biggest star and collecting numerous honours internationally alongside Zidane.

Joining him up top is Cristiano Ronaldo. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner claimed his first in 2008 while at Manchester United and was part of what many consider the greatest team Sir Alex Ferguson ever built. Ronaldo would later work under Zidane at the Santiago Bernabeu, where he evolved into the poacher-like player we see today. While he demonstrated that skill again upon his 2021 return to Old Trafford, at the time of Zidane’s interview, he was still operating primarily as a winger but came close to breaking the record for most goals in a single season.