Hernán Crespo reveals how Real Madrid move fell through THREE times | OneFootball

Legendary Argentine striker Hernán Crespo has revealed how he came close to joining Real Madrid on three separate occasions.

The 44-year-old spent the majority of his playing career in Italy, where he was a regular near the top of the scoring charts.

That form saw him catch the attention of Los Blancos on multiple occasions but for various reasons, a move never materialised.

“In 2002, I was playing for Lazio and the situation was that either myself or Ronaldo would go to Madrid,” he told The Tactical Room.

“They signed Ronaldo and then I replaced him at Inter but if Ronaldo had stayed at Inter, I’d have joined Real.

“The second time came in January 2009 in José Mourinho’s first season at Inter when I wanted to sign for Real Madrid.

“But they only offered me a six-month contract because they had elections coming up and I wouldn’t accept that.”

Even after retiring, the opportunity to move to the Santiago Bernabéu arose again in a coaching capacity and once more, failed to come through.

“I was working for Carlo Ancelotti,” Crespo recalled.

“I watched games, compiled reports and would give him my opinion of the team many times while watching games at home on television.

“The idea then was that I would be his assistant at Real and we spoke about it but Florentino Pérez wanted to put [Zinedine] Zidane in there.

“Let’s just say I guess he was right.”