Real Madrid have been the home to many legends over the years. Amongst them is Luis Figo. The Portuguese icon created a lot of controversy, when he made the move from Camp Nou to Santiago Bernabeu. But it looks like just a few years later, there could have been another Barcelona hero, who could have taken the same journey.
The player in question is none other than Andres Iniesta. He has gone down as an absolute icon at Camp Nou. And in Spanish football overall as well, as he was the one who scored the winning goal in the final of the 2010 World Cup.
Iniesta was not always an untouchable part of Barcelona’s team though. And it looks like once upon a time, a move to Real Madrid was a possibility as well, when he was struggling to reach a contract extension with the Catalan giants.
As reported by GOAL, former Real Madrid director Predrag Mijatovic said in an interview with Movistar + regarding a potential move for Iniesta in the past:
"“Yes, I wanted to sign him. We were, well, close… I don’t know if close. But we took advantage of it when he was renewing, he couldn’t reach an agreement.“We talked to his father. We tried to talk to his representative to take advantage of the opportunity. He had a high clause and we were determined to pay it. He was like a player who always admired him and he was a phenomenon.”"
Real Madrid were close to signing Barcelona legend
The exact timing when the talks took place between Iniesta’s representatives and Real Madrid is not exactly clear. But Mijatovic was a director at the club from 2006 to 2009.
On the other hand, Iniesta extended his contract with Barcelona in 2008. So, it must have been before that.
Iniesta was very highly rated even back then. But he had not yet reached the legendary status that he would go on to in the years that followed, starting with the managerial tenure of Pep Guardiola at Camp Nou. That team is still considered by many as the greatest ever assembled in the history of football.
What would things have been like if Real Madrid had ended up signing Iniesta? Football history would have certainly been very different.
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