Italian midfielder Andrea Pirlo hung up his boots on Monday after an illustrious career which ended in the MLS at New York City FC, but the 'Maestro' has revealed he would have loved to represent either Spain's two biggest clubs during his career, and he was close to moving to both at various points.
Pirlo, or 'The Metronome' as he is called in his home country, spent almost his entire career in his native Italy, with his most successful spells coming at AC Milan, where he won two Serie A titles and two Champions Leagues and then Juventus, where he won Serie A on four more occasions.
However, the classy midfielder revealed in his book "Penso quindi gioco (I think, therefore I play), that some of the most important clubs in Europe expressed an interest in him at various points in his career, and he would have loved to have played for Real Madrid and Barcelona.
In the summer of 2006, when Pirlo was had just been crowned a world champion with Italy and was producing world class performances for AC Milan, he received a call from his compatriot Fabio Capello, who tried to convince him to sign for Real Madrid. But, as he reveals in his book, Adriano Galliani (former Milan chief executive) refused to let him leave for 'Los Blancos' and denied the midfielder his 'dream' move.
"I was a Real Madrid player in my head, in my heart and in my soul. I had a five-year contract waiting for me there and a wage that was out of this world," he said in his autobiography.
He also spoke about Barcelona's attempts to sign him and revealed what Pep Guardiola, the Barca coach at the time, said to him to try and convince him to move to Catalonia after a friendly with AC Milan at the Camp Nou in August 2010.
"We're already very strong, I really couldn't ask for better, but you'd be the icing on the cake. We're looking for a midfielder to alternate with Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets, and that midfielder is you. You've got all the attributes to play for Barcelona, and one in particular – you're world class," said the former Barca boss.
On his strong desire to play for Guardiola's side, Pirlo said in his book: "As with Real Madrid, I'd have crawled to Barcelona on all fours. At that time, they were the best team in the world – what more needs to be said? Their brand of football hadn't been seen in a long time."
However, the move never came about for the Italy international and instead he made the move from the San Siro to Serie A rivals Juventus in 2011 at the age of 31, where he continued to go from strength to strength, despite his age.
He won four League titles during his time at Juventus and came one step away from winning his third Champions League title, but fell at the final hurdle to... Barcelona. Who else?