Real Madrid superstar reveals Arsenal 'is my club'

Tom Weber

• Updated: 19 Nov 2024 09:35 GMT
• 3 min read

Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde has revealed that he was convinced he would become an Arsenal player a decade ago.

The 26-year-old has become a key player for Los Blancos in recent years and he has had to shoulder more responsibility this season following the retirement of Toni Kroos. Valverde has started every single game for Real Madrid this term and contributed three goals and two assists.

The Uruguay international is the dynamo in the European champions' midfield, though he does not quite offer the same balance as Kroos did and Real Madrid's midfield has come under fire in 2024/25.

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Still, Valverde is a brilliant player on his day, but it is a little-known fact that he could have been plying his trade for Arsenal had things panned out slightly differently a decade ago.

Valverde's Arsenal revelation

When he was 16 and still playing for Montevideo giants Penarol, Valverde was invited to north London for a trial with the Gunners. He has now revealed in an interview with Movistar+ that he was convinced he would make the grade at Arsenal only to be left disappointed.

“I was 16," he began. "I said: ‘That’s it. This is my club. I’m going to grow here.’ In Uruguay, the Premier League was watched a lot. I imagined a future there. I enjoyed it and I trained with spectacular players.

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"I don’t know if he’ll remember me, but Dibu [Emiliano Martinez] was one of the ones who helped me the most in everything, along with [Hector] Bellerin, Alexis [Sanchez] and [Santi] Cazorla. I didn’t know English and they had to explain all the work to me.”

Arsenal decided against signing him, but Real Madrid ultimately snapped him up in July 2016. Three years later, he managed to break consistently into Los Blancos' team.