"It was easy to decide" - Former Barcelona star claims he snubbed Real Madrid to join Barca when he was young
Former Barcelona star Nico Gonzalez has revealed that he turned down their eternal rivals Real Madrid to join the Catalan outfit as a child. The midfielder came through the club's famed La Masia youth ranks and eventually featured for his boyhood club 37 times.
The 22-year-old revealed that other clubs courted him but he only had eyes for the Blaugrana because of his idol Andres Iniesta. He told Barca Universal via Marca:
“My childhood idol was Iniesta, but when I started playing as a ‘6’ at Barça, I obviously leaned towards Busquets. However, here at Porto, my position is more similar to that of Iniesta. I had several options, like Real Madrid and others, but I already knew Barça; I had been in the club since I was little, and it was easy to decide.”
Gonzalez left Barcelona last summer to join Portuguese outfit FC Porto in a deal worth a reported €8.4 million. He has played 3231 minutes for the Portuguese giants since then spread across 48 games across competitions.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid have gone on to lift La Liga, Supercopa de Espana and the UEFA Champions League in that time.
"My biggest mistake was joining Inter" - When retired striker Darko Pancev lamented rejecting Real Madrid and Barcelona
Back in 2020, 1990-91 European Golden Boot winner Darko Pancev lamented choosing a move to Inter Milan over a transfer to Real Madrid or Barcelona. He was in high demand following his outstanding performances with Red Star Belgrade in the 1990-91 season.
Pancev bagged 34 goals in all competitions that season and led the Serbian side to a shock UEFA Champions League crown. The next year, he secured a move to European powerhouse Inter Milan following attempts by the best clubs to get his signature. However, the move did not go to plan as he told Goal in 2020:
"My biggest mistake was joining Inter. Because I went to a team that had a bad atmosphere, a team that played defensively and as a stranger – they looked at me differently, and I think that they weren’t supportive enough for me to adapt easily.
"But the mistake is mine, because I could have gone to teams like Real Madrid, Barcelona or Manchester United, which were looking at me during that period."
Pancev's decision to sign for Inter did not go to plan for the striker. He played only 2012 minutes for the Serie A giants across 29 games following his €12 million move but managed to bag just 10 goals. He eventually joined Fortuna Dusseldorf in 1996 before hanging up his boots at FC Scion in Switzerland in 1997 at 31 years old.