10 Players Who REJECTED Real Madrid For Barcelona
Rodri had both of Spain's biggest clubs chasing him this summer, but decided to join Barcelona over Real Madrid. The two Spanish giants are arguably the biggest two football clubs in the world and are usually able to sign whoever they like. But, when two tribes go to war over the signing of a superstar player, there has to be a loser. And, while the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Mesut Ozil and David Beckham chose Madrid, plenty of others have been unable to resist the allure of the Camp Nou. We’ve identified 10 players who chose Barcelona over Real Madrid and their reasons for doing so. FCBarcelona RealMadrid
Transcript
Barcelona and Real Madrid don't just battle for trophies. They battle for players, too. And this summer, one of the best midfielders of his generation had both of Spain's giants chasing him. Rodri had a choice, Real Madrid or Barcelona, and he chose Barca. But he's certainly not the first. From Neymar and Luis Suarez to even Lionel Messi himself, here are 10 players who rejected Real Madrid and chose Barcelona instead. The first player is Andre Gomes, who's probably better remembered by English fans from his stint with Everton. However, back in 2016, he was one of the most sought-after midfielders in Europe. After impressing for Valencia, Gomes had interest from some of the continent's biggest clubs, with the likes of Chelsea, Man United, Juventus, and crucially Real Madrid all interested. But it was Barcelona who won the race to his signature, signing the midfielder for a fee of about 35 million. And this wasn't a case of Madrid simply missing out at the last minute. Gomes himself later confirmed that he had a genuine decision to make between the two Spanish giants. But he admitted that he chose Barcelona because that was the best club for him and to continue his development, or so he thought. Unfortunately, things never really worked out for Gomes at Barcelona. He struggled to nail down a consistent starting spot in what was already an absolutely stacked midfield. So while Barcelona definitely beat Real Madrid to his signing, it's probably not a deal that Real Madrid have lost any sleep over. The next player is Gavi, who's a slightly different example to Andre Gomes, as Barcelona didn't beat Real Madrid to an already established star here. This was for a wonder kid who had plenty of options to pick from as a youngster. According to one of Gavi's former youth coaches, he had plenty of options as a youngster with which academy he could have signed for, with the likes of Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, and Barcelona all interested in him from a young age. However, Gavi quickly made his preference for Barcelona known, and the rest is history. So while Real Madrid were sniffing around him, Barcelona managed to snap him up before they got the chance. Another player who chose Barcelona over Real Madrid was Ivan Rakitić. By 2014, the Croatian star had already established himself as one of the top midfielders in La Liga, and unsurprisingly, that put both Barcelona and Real Madrid on red alert. During the summer of 2014, Rakitić had the choice between Madrid and Barcelona, but he opted for Barca, a choice which definitely paid off for him. As during his very first season at Camp Nou, he got his hands on the treble, winning La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and Champions League, where he even scored in the final against Juventus. But even after initially opting to sign for Barcelona, Real Madrid still weren't giving up on Rakitić. As just 2 years later, they reportedly came back in for him and tried to poach him once again. Although Rakitić's answer still remained no, and he instead opted to continue with Barca. Rakitić would have definitely been a success at Real Madrid, too, but Barcelona can be thankful that he opted for them. Next up on the list, we've got Cesc Fàbregas, who's quite an interesting entry for a number of reasons. Of course, he came through the Barcelona youth academy, but left the club aged 16 to join Arsenal, before then eventually returning to Barcelona in 2011. But around that time, Barca weren't the only Spanish club who were interested in signing him. Indeed, Fàbregas has since revealed that during his time playing for Arsenal, Real Madrid did try and convince him to join them instead. And Fàbregas didn't completely shut down Real Madrid's interest. He instead said that the timing wasn't right and kicked the can down the road. But ultimately, when the chance finally arose for him to return to Spain, there was only ever going to be one club for him, and of course, that was Barcelona. Next up is Dani Alves, who joined Barcelona in the summer of 2008. And upon joining, he became their third most expensive signing in the entire club's history. But as Alves himself has admitted, he was actually closer to joining Real Madrid before finally pinning the move to Barcelona. During an interview in 2016, Alves admitted, "I'd never hid my move to Real Madrid was almost done, but my fate changed and I arrived at Barcelona instead." Ultimately, this is definitely a move which worked out for Barcelona in the long run as Alves has firmly established himself as one of the best fullbacks of all time and kindled a brilliant relationship with Lionel Messi down that right-hand side. But, things could have been so different had he instead followed through with that Real Madrid transfer. Next up on the list, we've got Samuel Eto'o, whose story is probably the most ironic out of everyone else's on this list. That's because before becoming a Barcelona legend, he was actually a Real Madrid player. Madrid bought Eto'o from Cameroon as a teenager, but he was never really given a proper opportunity in the first team, something Eto'o himself always somewhat resented. So, following a series of loans, he eventually found a permanent home at Mallorca, and that's where he really developed into one of the best strikers in La Liga. However, things got a little bit complicated because despite playing for Mallorca, Real Madrid still owned part of Eto'o's rights and following Florentino's re-election at Real Madrid, the club wanted to bring him back and gain full control. The idea was even floated for Real Madrid to use Eto'o as part of a swap deal for Michael Owen. However, Eto'o himself had other ideas. With Barcelona also interested in signing him, Eto'o made his preference very clear of which club he'd rather join, saying at the time, "For some time I have wanted to wear the Barcelona shirt." Before taking a subtle dig at Madrid for never showing enough faith in him previously. Eventually, Real Madrid decided to give in and Barcelona got their man with Eto'o joining in 2004. And it's safe to say this was a deal which definitely worked out for Barcelona with Eto'o going on to win the Champions League twice with Barcelona, winning La Liga on three occasions and scoring over 130 goals for the club. And another striker who chose Barcelona over Real Madrid was Luis Suarez. Back in 2014, Suarez was undoubtedly one of the best center forwards in world football and was just coming off the back of his most prolific campaign for Liverpool. That summer, a move to Spain looked inevitable and according to Suarez himself, Real Madrid were also interested in signing him. Suarez is quoted as saying, "Real Madrid were very interested in me, but my dream was to play for Barca. When I heard the name Barcelona, I didn't hesitate for a moment." And it's safe to say the move was a roaring success for both Suarez and Barcelona. He scored 198 goals for the club, won practically everything including a treble in 2014/15, and struck up an unbelievably prolific relationship with Lionel Messi, too. Another superstar that Barcelona beat Real Madrid to the signature of is Neymar. In fact, Real Madrid's initial interest in Neymar dates all the way back to 2006 when he was just 13 years old. However, instead of joining the Madrid academy as a youngster, Neymar instead continued his development in Brazil. But by the time it became apparent that he was going to move to Europe in 2013, both Barcelona and Real Madrid locked horns and got into a bidding war. And according to Neymar's former agent, it was actually Real Madrid who made the more lucrative contract offer to him. Although Neymar himself snubbed their proposal as he'd always dreamed of playing for Barcelona instead with Lionel Messi. And safe to say that move worked out pretty well for Barcelona who brought him in and he enjoyed four brilliant years with the club before they sold him for a significant profit to PSG. Now, would Neymar's football legacy be bigger had he remained at Barcelona for more than four years? Probably, but that shouldn't stop people from looking back at those four years with plenty of fun memories. Now, Neymar's potential move to Real Madrid has been well documented, but what about Lionel Messi? Because according to Messi's former agent, this could have happened for the youngster at one point of his career. Prior to joining the Barcelona academy, there was a chance that Messi had joined Real Madrid instead. That's according to his former agent. But even after being adopted by Barcelona, that didn't stop Real Madrid trying their look to tempt him away. According to reports in Spain, Florentino Perez tried on three separate occasions to get Messi at Real Madrid, but received the same answer every single time. Thanks, but no thanks. Despite the potential money on offer, Messi was never interested in a move to Real Madrid, and we just can't imagine a world where he was lining up at the Bernabeu. But we'll finish the video off with the guy that inspired it in the first place, and that's Rodri. Entering the final 12 months of his contract with Man City and coming off the back of another fantastic tournament with Spain, both Real Madrid and Barcelona saw a potential opportunity this summer. And it was Real Madrid who were initially in pole position to sign him, and all the early indicators pointed towards Rodri moving to the Bernabeu. However, after those negotiations had stalled, Barcelona swooped in and were quickly able to get a deal done thanks to Rodri himself pushing the move through. As Rodri gave his preference to join Barcelona instead of holding out for a move to Real Madrid. And it's been reported that the move from Rodri's perspective isn't money orientated either. Instead, according to reports currently coming out of Spain, Rodri was more convinced by Barcelona's long-term project than he was at Madrid. And given the building blocks which have been put in place in recent years by Hansi Flick and the youthful core that they've currently got at Barcelona, you'd have to say that logic makes sense. Don't get me wrong, Real Madrid currently have an unbelievably talented squad, but with Jose Mourinho now back and a bit of a fractious dressing room, it definitely feels like Barcelona currently have a more long-term plan in mind, and that's something that really appealed to Rodri. So while both clubs were interested, Rodri seems to have landed on Barcelona being the club for him. Well, there we have it, guys. That will now wrap it up for today's video. Thank you very much for tuning in. How do you think Rodri will get on at Barcelona? Do you think that move will be a success? Let us know in the comments down below. Apart from that though, that will wrap it up for today's video and we'll see you all in the next one.