Manchester United favourite Antonio Valencia has admitted he had the chance to join Real Madrid, but his family convinced him to stay where he was.
Marca cover comments from the Ecuador defender today as he speaks about Manchester United, Real Madrid vs Arsenal and how he nearly joined the Spanish giants.
Valencia joined Manchester United in an €18.8m deal from Wigan Athletic in 2009 and went on to spend the next ten years at the club making 339 appearances in total and winning two Premier League titles, two League Cup titles, the FA Cup, Europa League and three Community Shields.
He was undoubtedly one of the best defenders in the league at the time and regularly recognised as such, being named Manchester United’s best foreign player in 2009, their player of the year in 2016/17 and named in the Premier League team of the year for 2009/10.
His time at the club saw him taking on Real Madrid in the Champions League at one point and it seems the Spanish side were more than aware of his talent, even making a move to sign him.
That, though, was blocked by his family, who wanted him to stay at Manchester United after settling in Manchester.
“I had the opportunity to sign for Real Madrid, in fact, I had a meeting with a club manager,” he said.
“I loved the idea, but I’ve always thought about my family and my family made the decision. They told me they were happy in Manchester, they were happy, so we decided to stay.
“We didn’t move and thank God I spent ten wonderful years. Although I have always thanked the people of Real Madrid for giving me that opportunity to meet and know that they were interested in me.”
