Former Barcelona star reveals he came ‘close’ to signing for Real Madrid | OneFootball

A former member of the midfield ranks at La Liga giants Barcelona has revealed that, at one point, he came close to signing for the Blaugrana’s arch rivals.

The player in question? Arturo Vidal.

Chilean Vidal, for his part, spent two years on the books of Barcelona, between 2018 and 2020.

And the all-action engine room star made his presence very much felt, establishing himself as a regular in the Catalans’ XI, en route to titles in both La Liga and the Spanish Super Cup.

As alluded to above, though, had things played out just a little differently, Vidal, at one point, also could have found himself plying his trade for Spanish football’s other biggest club.

Speaking during an interview with Argentine streamer Davoo Xeneize, as cited by Diario AS, on Wednesday, the 37-year-old opened up on just how close he came to signing for Real Madrid:

“For the president (Florentino Pérez), he needed to say yes, but it didn’t happen. I think the closest I came was before Casemiro arrived from the loan to Porto. I should have gone, but they brought him back…”

Vidal continued:

“In short, whoever goes to Madrid becomes champion (laughs), wins everything.”

Conor Laird | GSFN