‘I was close to leaving Barcelona’ – Xavi admits that he could have joined Milan

Seeing some of the best players in the world play for AC Milan is part of the fabric of the club, and another could have donned the colours.

Gianni Rivera, Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten, George Weah, Andriy Shevchenko, Kaka, some of the best players in the history of football, and also just some of the legends to have represented Milan. Now, another elite has joined the club in Luka Modric.

Of course, there are countless other greats that have been part of the club’s history, who haven’t been recognised with the Ballon d’Or award. Just like several legends never won the award, one of them was Xavi.

Xavi to Milan?

In recent years, the former midfielder has been linked to the Rossoneri in a managerial role. However, he has also been close to the club as a player, as he revealed yesterday.

Speaking to Cronache di Spogliatoio, he admitted that he had been close to a move to Milano twice, as Calciomercato.com relays.

“In 2008, I was about to sign for Inter. Then Guardiola arrived and changed everything. I was close to leaving Barcelona twice. The first time was for Milan. I spoke to Galliani after the Under-20 World Cup with Spain. The Rossoneri really wanted me, but I decided to stay at Barcelona.

“In 2008, when we were coming off a bad spell at Barcelona and many were blaming me for not getting the team going, Inter wanted me. Bayern Munich were also interested, but in the end Guardiola arrived on the first-team bench and that changed everything.”