When Isco was leaving Malaga, the expected destination was Manchester City.
Manuel Pellegrini had signed up to become Manchester City manager in May 2015 and given that Isco had done so well under him at Malaga, the move made a great deal of sense.
However, towards the end of June 2015, Real Madrid agreed a deal to sign Isco and announced the transfer, with it looking like they’d swopped in and gazumped a Manchester City transfer.
Much as Pellegrini and Manchester City were attractive, they weren’t quite as attractive as Real Madrid for Isco, and the Spaniard stayed in Spain.
This week Isco has given a lengthy interview to Marca and the Spanish newspaper came straight out and asked him why he changed his mind, and moved to Madrid instead of Manchester.
“I was playing at the U21 Europeans, it was my father who led the negotiations. It’s true that Morata got to me a bit because I wanted to be with him.
“In the end the Madrid is Madrid. It is the best in the world, it’s very difficult to say no. And I had the intuition that sooner or later would come La Décima, because they had many years without winning the Champions League… and I was right.”
Isco insists he doesn’t regret his decision to join Real Madrid, despite often being a bit-part player. The Spanish international is determined to continue his career at the club, but that largely depends upon whether Zinedine Zidane agrees.
