Andrea Pirlo revealed exclusively to FourFourTwo that he nearly signed for Real Madrid in the summer of 2006, just after he had won the World Cup with Italy.
Indeed, with AC Milan engulfed by the Calcipoli match-fixing scandal, their Champions League and even Serie A status were called into question, with players like Pirlo unsure the state of the club upon his return from the World Cup.
Consequently, Pirlo told FourFourTwo's Arthur Renard in the latest issue available to buy that he almost moved to Real Madrid as a result, but once AC Milan's situation had been resolved he signed a new contract with the club, where he stayed until 2011.
“We had just won the World Cup, but we didn’t know what would happen,” Pirlo said.
“I was very, very close with Real Madrid, but then we got told that Milan could enter Champions League qualifying and be readmitted to Serie A. I was offered a new contract straight away and the club did a lot to keep me.”
That isn't the only time he nearly moved one of Spain's elite, though, with Pirlo telling FFT Pep Guardiola wanted him to play alongside Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi at Barcelona.
Ultimately nothing came to fruition, but Pirlo still clearly values that conversation with Guardiola, after a friendly between AC Milan and Barcelona in August 2010.
“He called me in [to his office after the game] and started talking about how he wanted to play and how he would like me to join his team,” Pirlo said.
“For me it was a source of pride, especially to talk to him and also to be compared to a Barcelona player. In the end, nothing happened, but being called by Guardiola into his office to talk was a wonderful experience.”
Naturally, English clubs also courted Pirlo's signature during his career, the Italian's influence on games with his passing and control clearly admired across the continent.
Pirlo said Chelsea and Manchester City both wanted to prise him away from Italy, with his former AC Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti, unveiled as Chelsea manager prior to the start of the 2009/10 season, attempting to convince him to move to Stamford Bridge.
“Ancelotti asked me to go with him,” the midfielder recalled. “The two teams talked about it with my agent, and there was a big chance. But in the end, when it was time to sign the contract, Silvio Berlusconi and Adriano Galliani didn’t want me to go.”
Similarly, his fellow countryman Roberto Mancini was in charge of Manchester City in 2011, the same year he moved to Juventus. He spoke to the club about a possible move, but eventually decided on staying in Italy.
While he could have won plenty of trophies at Manchester City, his decision to sign for Juventus yielded four straight Serie A titles and a Coppa Italia trophy to boot.
“I spoke with Juventus, with Roberto Mancini’s Manchester City and with other big teams, but in the end I decided to go to Turin because they had a good project to get back to winning ways,” he explained.
“They had just gone through some tough years, but they had a new stadium and were building a new Juve, where I would be an important player, so I decided to go there.”
