7 players who chose the Premier League over Real Madrid: Yoro, Haaland…
Real Madrid are largely accepted as the final boss of football, thus the chance to sign for the club is rarely turned down. However, they haven’t always been successful when competing with the Premier League for top players.
Just like Los Blancos, the pull of Premier League football is extremely difficult to reject. Players around the world often dream of one or the other – if not both – but with the money on offer in England’s top flight due to its global appeal, it’s often a foreign player’s top ambition.
We’ve seen plenty of players play in the Premier League before moving to Real Madrid, but what about those who snubbed the Spanish capital completely?
Leny Yoro
It’s not official until he’s signed the contract and held up the shirt, but Manchester United appear to have beaten Real to the signing of Yoro from Lille, with David Ornstein reporting that he’s flying to the United Kingdom for a medical and to finalise personal terms.
The 18-year-old defender is widely regarded as one of the game’s brightest young talents and – should the transfer go through – will feel like a real statement of intent from the Red Devils since being taken over by INEOS.
When you consider it was Real who pipped them to a young Raphael Varane in eerily similar circumstances in 2011, this deal feels even more significant.
Erling Haaland
Haaland wasn’t short of options when the time came to leave Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2022, but the race for his signature ultimately boiled down to a battle between Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester City.
Barcelona’s financial situation meant they never really stood a chance, but Real had every reason to believe they could tempt Haaland to the Bernabeu.
The issue? A £51million release clause which City didn’t hesitate to trigger and Haaland’s own desire to come to England instead, joining the club where his father Alfie once played.
That, combined with concerns over his own development if having to play second fiddle to Karim Benzema meant he opted for East Manchester.
A continental treble and 90 goals from 98 games later, it’s fair to say he made the right choice.
Paul Pogba
A player who perhaps wishes he made a different choice back in 2016, Pogba was the talk of the town and arguably the best midfielder in the world when he returned to Manchester United for a then-world record fee.
Things could’ve been different, though, had Real been able to compete with United financially that summer and cough up a bigger sum which also would’ve satisfied late agent Mino Raiola.
But alas, Pogba held out and chose to return to Manchester. Despite a strong start in his first few years, it all ended in tears and he returned to Juventus in 2022 nowhere near the calibre of player he once was.
And given his current doping ban, any hope of a late move to Real is all but gone.
Steven Gerrard
Liverpool’s hometown hero came close to signing for Chelsea in 2005, but also had a firm offer from Real in the same summer according to several reports.
Real came in again for Gerrard in 2010 when Jose Mourinho was in charge – the same Mourinho who almost signed him for Chelsea – but he explained the difficulties of making a deal happen on Jamie Carragher’s The Greatest Game podcast in 2020.
“Imagine going and playing for Mourinho in the Champions League – that would’ve been an unbelievable experience. Of course it would. But it didn’t happen.
“Basically, Madrid wanted me to cause a war at Liverpool to get out. That was the only way that could’ve happened.”
He was tempted, but never tempted enough to make the move happen.
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Patrick Vieira
Off the back of their iconic Invincible season, Arsenal looked resigned to defeat in the transfer market with Real circling for Vieira in 2004 and coming seriously close to landing the midfielder, before a change of heart.
“I was really close to leaving for Madrid the year before I left [Arsenal],” explained Vieira to TNT Sports in 2014.
“The deal was done between the two clubs, so when it was time for me to leave I changed my mind because I believed that I wanted to stay at Arsenal, I wanted to finish my career at Arsenal.”
The Frenchman didn’t finish his career at Arsenal, leaving a season later to sign for Juventus in 2005, but his love of the Gunners and English football was enough to convince him to go back on his deal with Los Blancos.
READ: 13 world-class players who came to the Premier League too late: Schweinsteiger, Zlatan…
Cesc Fabregas
A La Masia boy who left behind Barcelona to sign for Arsenal, it was their El Clasico rivals Real who tried to swoop in and sign Fabregas from the Gunners when he was 18.
The Spaniard has confirmed in several interviews since that Real contacted him at the time offering a big salary and admitting that terms were discussed with the club, but he turned them down out of respect for Arsene Wenger, who signed him from Barcelona and gave him his Arsenal debut at 16.
Fabregas did return to Spain in 2011, but in Catalonia with Barcelona, which he claimed was always the dream.
Robert Pires
Finishing off with another former Arsenal midfielder, Pires told L’Equipe that he’d gone as far as posing with the Real shirt in the summer of 2000, before changing his mind and signing for the Gunners.
“Arsene called me and upset my plans. After the final [Euro 2000], he sent me a plane, I had a medical and signed. With him, Titi [Henry], Pat [Vieira], it felt like home at Arsenal.”
It’s one thing to say no to Real or stall on a contract offer, but to pose with the jersey and then sign for someone else? Bold. Fair play, Robert.