ZZ hails Ronaldo move, reveals Ribery talks

LYON, France: France great Zinedine Zidane lauded Real Madrid's record-breaking acquisition of Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo, in an interview with French daily Le Dauphine Libere published yesterday.

Zidane, a World Cup winner in 1998 and three-time FIFA World Player of the Year, held the record for the world's highest transfer fee after his 75 million-euro move from Juventus to Real in 2001, only for Ronaldo's 94 million-euro switch from Manchester United earlier this week to eclipse him.

"I finally lose this record, which was pretty heavy to bear," said Zidane, who was named as an advisor to Florentino Perez when the 62-year-old Spaniard returned to his role as Real president last week.