There are players who rejected Real Madrid offers for some crazy reasons you don’t know about. We were all given a decent dose of shock over the weekend when Kylian Mbappe announced that he would be remaining at PSG despite virtually everything pointing towards him joining Real Madrid this summer.
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This has led us to look at some instances when players turned down offers from Real Madrid. You gotta admit, when Madrid comes calling, players almost always fall head over heels, running towards them.
8 Players who rejected Real Madrid offers
Here are 8 players who shockingly rejected Real Madrid for various reasons. And to feature in this list, it has to have been the player’s decision to not go to Madrid and not external factors. So, a case like that of David de Gea doesn’t qualify to be on this list. Let’s get right to it.
1. Kylian Mbappe
The really interesting thing about Mbappe’s case is that this was not even the first time he rejected Real Madrid.
Apparently, back in 2017, when he broke out as a teenage sensation in AS Monaco, Real Madrid, as well as every other big team in Europe, wanted him ASAP. And Mbappe was actually interested in moving to Spain’s capital. Who wouldn’t be, right?
Apparently, Real Madrid’s president, Florentino Perez, told Mbappe that he wanted him to take over from Ronaldo. That is, Ronaldo would leave and Mbappe would have to fill his shoes.
Now, that was what scared the Frenchman off. You tell a teenager that you want him to move to a big club in a new country to take over from his idol? Nah, that’s way too much pressure. He rejected the whole thing immediately and instead opted to play in his city of birth where there was much less pressure. But we all just sort of had that feeling that the boy would end up playing for his dream club.
And we all thought it was going to finally happen sometime in the last one year. There was nothing holding Mbappe back. His contract with PSG was almost done, Real Madrid wanted him and had offered him insane amounts of money; all he had to do was say yes and it would be done.
And according to reports, he did, in fact, say yes to Real Madrid. But he reneged on his word and ended up extending with PSG for a further 3 years.
Real Madrid were so hurt by this and immediately declared that they would never again go for Mbappe and they will never have anything to do with him in the future. Hm. We’ll have to see how that plays out.
2. Ivan Rakitic
Rakitic is another player who rejected Real Madrid twice. During his first spell at Sevilla, he proved himself to be an outstanding midfielder, winning them the Europa League in 2014. He quickly became the target for many big clubs across Europe including Barcelona and Real Madrid. We all know who won that little El Clasico battle for the Croatian’s signature.
Anyway, Rakitic only kept getting better. In his first season at Barcelona, he helped them win the treble, even scoring in the Champions League final.
It hurt Madrid so much to see the man they wanted excel with their archenemies, so they wanted to pull a Figo. They put a call through to Rakitic and his people and asked if he’d be willing to jump ship.
They tried to entice him with his friend and international teammate, Luka Modric, who was having an amazing time there, but that didn’t move him. Rakitic turned Madrid down again and decided to remain at Barca where he ended up winning 3 more La Liga titles as well as other trophies.
But the truth is, not everyone ends up being happy that they turned down Real Madrid. Some have ended up regretting their decision, and this next guy is one of those people.
3. Roy Keane
Keane had an amazing career at Manchester United, winning several trophies including the treble in 1999. But that really illustrious career came to a pretty rancorous end when his falling out with Sir Alex Ferguson forced him to leave the club.
Keane became a free agent in November 2005 when his contract with Manchester United was terminated. And then, he was approached by Real Madrid. According to him, he got the call when he was on the toilet seat.
Madrid really wanted him, but Keane said no to them and ended up going to Celtic instead.
Looking back at the offer years later, the former Man United captain said he really wished he took the deal. He said:
“It was the most attractive challenge in front of me, but I didn’t accept it. With hindsight, I should have said to myself, ‘Go. Go to Spain… You might end up loving it. You might even stay there…’ But instead, as usual, I was looking at what might go wrong.”
But Roy Keane is not alone in the league of former United players who regret saying no to Real Madrid.
4. Paul Pogba
Pogba left Manchester United in 2012. And then, 4 years later, after he had proven himself to be one of the finest midfielders in the world, winning numerous titles with Juventus and even playing in the Champions League final, United wanted him back. And they were ready to break the bank to make his return happen.
But not only them. Real Madrid, who were now being managed by French former midfielder, Zinedine Zidane, also wanted Pogba. But the French connection was not enough to sway Pogba. United was his home and he was only focused on a homecoming.
As we know, he got his wish. He moved to Manchester United for 105 million euros, but his stay was definitely nothing close to what he hoped it would be.
Surely, Pogba is sometimes left thinking what could have been had he made his way to Madrid instead of Manchester back in summer ‘16.
5. Marco Verratti
The Italian midfield maestro joined PSG at the age of 19, and he absolutely hit the ground running. He has since been at the top of his game in France, and a lot of clubs have been trying to nick him from the Parisian club. One of those clubs is Real Madrid.
The Spanish giants really wanted to get Verratti to leave PSG, but the Italian turned them down. But not really because he hates Madrid or anything, but just because he was so happy at PSG. His reason was pretty simple. In his words:
“When I am happy in a team, I don’t even want to begin negotiations with another club.”
Real Madrid must really hate PSG right now.
6. Steven Gerrard
Steven Gerrard is a straight-up Liverpool legend.
And one of the ways he cemented his place as a club legend was by staying at Merseyside for 26 years despite temptations from big clubs across Europe, especially Real Madrid.
It was Stevie G himself who revealed in an interview back in 2014 that Real Madrid approached him years ago. But he turned them down because of the connection he shared with his hometown and boyhood club.
Gerrard also said what a fan of Real Madrid he is and talked about how he may regret not leaving his comfort zone and taking on a new challenge in a new country. But in the same breath, he said it would have been an ever bigger regret had he left the club he really loves.
For the former Aston Villa boss, Real Madrid are great, but Liverpool will always be number 1.
7. Francesco Totti
Totti is worshiped at AS Roma because of his loyalty, among other things. He was one of the best players in the world in his day, and that attracted offers from big clubs all around the world including A.C. Milan and Real Madrid.
But just like Gerrard, the Italian legend turned down all the attractive offers he got to remain at his hometown and boyhood club.
Now, finally, Mbappe’s other teammate who also rejected Real Madrid…
8. Neymar Jr.
Guess what! Neymar rejected Madrid not once, not twice, but three times. Yes, 3 good times he said a big no to Florentino Perez and Real Madrid.
First time was when he was only 13. He may have been young, but Neymar was already a superstar known all over the world. Perez approached the teenager’s family wanting to bring him over to Spain and enroll him in the Madrid academy. But Neymar’s dad insisted that it would be better for the little boy to remain in Brazil until he was older, so he remained at Santos instead.
Fast forward to 2013, and Perez was back. The Real Madrid president was ready to pay Santos 40 million euros for the services of the teenager. He sent lawyers and 3 members of the Madrid board over to Brazil to discuss terms with Neymar and his agents, but the Brazilian superstar was only going to leave Brazil if he was going to Barcelona.
And he did go to Barcelona. The Blaugranas made an offer of 57 million euros and it was quickly accepted by Neymar. That same summer Perez so desperately wanted to sign him, he ended up joining his archrivals. That must have really stung.
But the saga wasn’t over. In 2019, 2 years after Neymar shockingly left Barcelona for PSG, Madrid came knocking yet again. This time, they came with an offer more than 6 times bigger than the last. They were offering to pay PSG 300 million euros to bring him back to Spain, but Neymar was more interested in a return to Barcelona and a reunion with MSN. Well, none of those things ended up happening.
Not only have PSG taken two of the biggest world stars from their league in Messi and Neymar, they have also been in the way of other superstars coming over. It must really sting.
Anyway, we want to hear from you now.
If you were in Mbappe’s shoes, considering all that was offered, what would have been your decision? Would you have opted to stay a few more years in Paris or would you have got on the next flight to Madrid?
Give us your answers in the comments.
