Ronaldo and eight players who almost joined Barcelona

Stefan Bienkowski

• 18 Nov 2021 22:45 GMT
• 5 min read

Barcelona may be struggling to entice the world’s best players to their club at the moment but history is littered with long lists of star players that were desperate to represent the Catalan side.

Indeed, while we can all rhythm off the best players that did go on to play for Barca, little is known of the ones who came so close to making the move to the Spanish club but for one reason or another never managed to do so.

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Here is a breakdown of some of the most famous players that almost joined Barcelona but in the end never did.

Gianluigi Buffon

When football fans think of Gianluigi Buffon they think of the towering goalkeeper in the colours of Italy or Juventus, but some may remember that he was once a Parma star before making his way to Turin.

Indeed, the World Cup-winning shot-stopper made the move to Italy in 2001, when Juventus paid £32.6 million for the keeper.

However, according to the player himself, that could have quite easily been Barcelona instead, but in the end Buffon opted for a move to Juve after consulting with his father.

“However, I decided to join Juventus after discussing it with my father and I'm still grateful for it. Being at Juventus is a unique experience and has brought me a lot of satisfaction,” confirmed Buffon in an interview with Sportmediaset.

Vincent Kompany

Manchester City wouldn’t be the club that they are today with the talents and heroics of Vincent Kompany in defence for so many years. However, like so many talented players, the Belgium international almost found himself at the Catalan giants.

Kompany left HSV in 2008 for Man City in a deal worth just £6 million, but the player has since confirmed that he was close to making a move to Barcelona on a number of occasions prior to his move to England.

"I have been really close to signing a contract with Barcelona for a number of times,” said Kompany in an interview. “But, officially, I can assure you that there has been absolutely nothing that I know of."

Juan Mata

Juan Mata began his career in Real Madrid’s youth sides, before making the move to Valencia in 2007 in search of a viable route to first team football. He undoubtedly found it and after four successful years at the La Liga side, Mata then joined Chelsea for a reported £23.5 million.

As most football fans will now know, Mata enjoyed spectacular success at Stamford Bridge before moving on to Manchester United in 2014. However, according to the Guardian, the playmaker was close to making a move to Barca in 2013 - one full year before his move to Old Trafford.

Kaka

Once upon a time Kaka was considered one of the best players in the world due to his remarkable performances for Milan. So much so that it eventually earned him a move to Real Madrid.

However, prior to his move to the Spanish capital, Kaka was reportedly close to making the move to Barca in a player exchange which would have seen Ronaldinho head to Milan in his place.

As the old rumour goes, Barca president Joan Laporta and Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi seriously considered the player exchange, before it was called off at the last minute.

Sergio Aguero

Now a Barcelona player, Sergio Aguero could have made the move to the Catalan club almost 10 years earlier if rumours from Spain are to be believed.

Prior to making his move to Manchester City, Aguero reportedly came close to making the move to Barca in 2012 as the club were in serious need of additional firepower up front.

However, despite Aguero’s success at Atletico Madrid, Barca instead opted for Neymar instead and left the Argentina striker to an extremely successful spell in England instead.

Andrea Pirlo

Another player that almost made his way to Barcelona during his career was none other than former Milan and Juventus playmaker Andrea Pirlo.

Famed as one of the best passers of the ball in the history of football, Pirlo revealed in his biography that Milan considered swapping him with Barca striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic in 2010.

"The discussions went on for a while and, ultimately, Milan didn't give in, it was always going to go like that, I suppose,” said Pirlo in his book. “Back then, they still thought I had all my abilities and so they kept me, without ever getting involved in full-on negotiations."

Mesut Ozil

Prior to his success at Arsenal, Mesut Ozil was a tremendous player for Real Madrid and Werder Bremen. However, he could have also been a Barca player if the club had acted quicker in 2010.

Despite reaching an agreement with Bremen to sign the playmaker that summer, Barca dragged their heels as they spent much of the summer trying to sign Alexander Hleb and renegotiating Thierry Henry’s contract.

So much so that Madrid were able to swoop in and buy the player for little more than £11 million.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Sir Alex Ferguson’s efforts to sign Cristiano Ronaldo from Sporting before any other major club took notice of the young forward are well known, but few likely know that the former Man Utd manager was insistent on selling the Portugal star to Barca rather than Madrid.

In an interview from 2014, Florentino Perez confirmed that Man Utd’s preference was to sell the forward to Barcelona, who were willing to pay a high price to put Ronaldo alongside Lionel Messi. However, the player himself decided that a move to Madrid was in his best interests.

"I don't know why, but Ferguson is a bit obsessed with Real Madrid. He doesn't like us, I have to say that,” said the Madrid president.

“He then said no, Cristiano is going to leave for Barcelona instead of Real Madrid, and Barca said that's okay we are prepared to pay whatever the amount you are asking.

“But the important thing was that the Ronaldo said 'no, it's Real Madrid or nothing."