Newcastle United icon Nolberto Solano has revealed both Real Madrid and Manchester United looked at him during his time at St James Park, but his bad luck stopped either move happening.
The former winger has been speaking to Pase Filtrado about his career and how things may have worked out very differently for him.
The Peruvian winger spent ten years playing in England, initially joining Newcastle in a €4m deal from Boca Juniors in 1998 before moving to Aston Villa in January 2004.
That spell only lasted two years before he returned to Newcastle in 2006, spending another year at his old club before moving to West Ham and then eventually heading to Greece.
He remains a firm fan favourite at Newcastle, at least, earning himself a place in their Hall of Fame earlier this year in recognition of his record of 48 goals and 78 assists in 315 games for the clubs over his two spells with them.
Those are the best numbers of his entire career, with his total appearances for the seven other clubs he played for not coming close to the tally he managed with Newcastle.
It seems, though, things could have been very different for him, though, as both Real Madrid and Manchester United were keen at different points.
“I almost joined Real Madrid in 2001/02,”, he said.
“They told me that there was a follow-up on me but in the Premier League I played as a midfielder and that was a bit of a confusion for them.
“It was a good time that we were playing with Newcastle, and they talked a lot about me but, because of my bad luck, I was playing up front in Newcastle. So, they didn’t move. Madrid wanted a winger and at that time it was Salgado. So, I no longer had any chance.
“At one point Manchester United looked at me because Beckham was leaving, he was going to Real Madrid. But this guy called Cristiano Ronaldo appeared.
“Imagine. Obviously, it’s all about him. He arrives, a young man and a good guy and I was forgotten about. I ended up kicking him when we played against Manchester United. Ferguson put him up against me and it was pure nonsense. The only way to stop him was kicking.”
