Italy legend reveals he came close to joining Real Madrid in 2006: “We had an agreement” | OneFootball

AC Milan, Juventus, and Italy legend Andrea Pirlo has revealed that he came close to signing for Real Madrid back in 2006 but after a meeting with former Rossoneri CEO Adriano Galliani, he decided to ‘continue the adventure’ in his home country.

The event dates back to 2006 when the World Cup had just finished in Germany and once he returned to club duties, he learned that AC Milan might play in Serie B and this is when Madrid entered the fray.

Given the situation at hand, Madrid’s executives met with Pirlo and his agent and the two parties even had an agreement in place.

“The World Cup had just ended and there was all the Calciopoli mess. There was a chance that Milan could play in Serie B and Fabio Capello had moved to Real Madrid. I had spoken to him and the directors and we had an agreement,” Pirlo told Radio Serie A (h/t Football Italia).

So what happened next?

Pirlo came close to signing for Real Madrid in 2006. (Photo by Massimo Cebrelli/Getty Images)

After Pirlo had his meeting with Real Madrid, he returned to club duties for pre-season where he learned that his side might have to start the new season with a point deduction.

Until this point, the midfielder was not sure about anything, but everything changed when he met with Galliani, who put forward a contract and asked the midfielder to put the figure of his choice.

“When I arrived for Milan’s pre-season, they told us we would play in Serie A with a point deduction, I wasn’t sure because I had decided to go there [Real Madrid], but coming back to Milanello I met Adriano Galliani and my agent and we agreed to continue the adventure.

“Galliani put the contract on the table and told us to put the figures in there, after a few days, we signed it,” he added.

Pirlo went on to play for five more seasons with Milan before moving to Juventus and retiring from football in 2017 once and for all.