Totti: "Madrid pulled out all the stops to sign me but I said no"
The Roma and Italy legend told Corriere dello Sport that Real tried to make him a Galactico in 2003 but he couldn't leave his lifelong club.
Francesco Totti may be 40 years old but the Roma legend shows no signs of slowing down. The Stadio Olimpico fan favourite’s storied career may have taken a different path though had he signed for Real Madrid during a charm offensive by the Bernabéu.
"I had an offer from Madrid in 2003"
Speaking to Corriere dello Sport, Totti confirmed that Real Madrid tried to make him a Galactico during the era of Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, Luis Figo and David Beckham. “I had an offer from Real Madrid in 2003, although what people said about me travelling to Spain isn’t true. Madrid pulled out all the stops to sign me and it’s the only club in the world I would have said, with a heavy heart, goodbye to Roma for. I thought about it a lot but my wife, my family and my friends made me see that I had to stay here.”
250 Serie A goals
Totti has now been at Roma for 16 seasons and brought up his 250th Serie A goal in September in a 3-1 loss at Torino. “Retire? What for?” he said just before his 40th birthday.
