In a fascinating revelation by Thomas Roncero in AS, it has come to light that the legendary Barcelona midfielder, Andres Iniesta, who recently announced his retirement from football, was once on the verge of signing with Real Madrid.
This surprising turn of events dates back to 2006, a pivotal year for both clubs. The story unfolds during the presidential elections of Real Madrid, which took place after the resignation of Florentino Perez.
The background
This opened the door for an electoral period, during which a formidable candidate named Juan Palacios emerged.
Palacios gathered a strong team around him, including figures like Fernando Fernandez-Tapias, who had served as vice-president under Perez since 2000, as well as prominent Real Madrid supporters such as Jose Antonio Camacho, Pirri and Vicente del Bosque among others.
Camacho, leveraging his connections in the La Mancha region—where he began his football journey before joining Real Madrid as a youth player—used his friendship with Iniesta’s family to advocate for the talented midfielder.
He aimed to persuade Iniesta to consider a move to Madrid if Palacios secured victory in the elections.
Iniesta was not happy at Barcelona
At that time, Iniesta was experiencing a challenging period at Barcelona. He had only managed to score one goal for the club during that season and had provided six assists.
To make matters worse, his then-coach Frank Rijkaard had left him on the bench for the Champions League final that year, which saw Barcelona face Arsenal.
This decision deeply frustrated Iniesta, who later reflected on Rijkaard’s lack of explanation for his omission from the starting lineup, describing it as one of the most disappointing moments of his career.
Amidst this discouragement, Camacho met with Iniesta to discuss the potential transfer to Madrid. They arranged a private meeting at a hotel in Girona, which included Iniesta’s parents, Camacho, and Fernandez-Tapias.
Why did the transfer fail?
During this meeting, they agreed on a deal contingent on Juan Palacios winning the election.
Although no formal contract was signed, it was reported that a guarantee was made to deposit a cheque for €60 million at the headquarters of the Professional Football League, which was the amount of Iniesta’s release clause at Barcelona.
However, the plans fell through when Juan Palacios lost the election by a mere 246 votes to Raman Calderon, with the final tally showing 8,344 votes for Calderón and 8,098 for Palacios.
This narrow defeat meant that Iniesta was only 246 votes away from potentially donning the white shirt of Real Madrid.
The implications of this missed opportunity are immense, leading one to wonder how such a transfer could have altered the trajectory of Iniesta’s career, the fortunes of Barcelona, and even the history of Real Madrid itself.
