Chelsea forward Eden Hazard further stoked up talks of completing a move to Real Madrid after his recent claims on French legend Zinedine Zidane.
Rumours of Hazard moving to the Spanish capital has made headlines in recent weeks following the return of Zizou to Madrid.
However, the Belgian skipper admitted the Frenchman was one of the biggest influences on him growing up.
When asked to choose between Zidane and his national team boss Roberto Martinez, Hazard mentioned his admiration of both for different reasons.
“I have a lot of respect for Zidane,” he told Marca.
“He was my idol. Thanks to him I began playing (football).
“But for the wins achieved with Martinez, I choose him,” Hazard said.
Los Blancos were previously linked to Hazard back in 2012 but the Belgian player of the year ended up joining the Blues.
Seven years later, Los Blancos are back in the hunt for the creative attacker and his Chelsea future remains shrouded in doubt with his contract set to expire in 2020.
But Madrid have seen their initial offer of 60 million pounds for the pacy winger rebuffed with the hope of making more cash from the deal.
Other big name players mooted to move to the Bernabeu are Mbappe, Mane and Neymar.
However, Hazard may finally move on if Chelsea fails to secure another Champions League football.