Perez hatches Operation Zidane

Real Madrid chairman Florentino Perez has one mission to complete this summer - bring Juventus ace Zinedine Zidane to the club for next season.

The chairman has already been trying to raise funds to make Juve an offer they can not refuse. "If the technical staff consider the signing of Zidane a must then I'll do everything in my power to get him," Perez said on Wednesday.

Real would be willing to offer Juve $US 51m for the talented French midfielder but the transfer fee is not the main problem. Even if Zidane and Juve agree to the player joining Real Madrid, the Spaniards may have trouble retaining Zidane's image rights - a goldmine in terms of merchandising and television rights.

Real Madrid recovered a huge percentage of the money they spent last year on Luis Figo through selling team shirts with the player's name on the back. Perez knows that he would have to do the same if Zidane joined the club, but it appears that Zidane would want to control his own image rights, which may complicate matters for Perez.