Isco: In 2018, I got a call from Barcelona and with the payouts Bartomeu was handing out at the time… But I wouldn’t leave Madrid for all the gold in the world

Isco was an admittedly somewhat overlooked but no less important key to Zidane’s hat-trick in the Champions League in 2016-2018. But then he stopped playing altogether and even had an offer from Barcelona, which he didn’t accept.

The 2012/13 season was a pivotal one for Isco. As a youngster, he led Málaga to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, became the winner of the Golden Boy poll and earned a transfer to Real Madrid.

He was also a great success in the white jersey, winning the Champions League in his first season and then winning the trophy three more times in four years. Moreover, it was he who “broke” the iconic BBC, i.e. the trio of Benzema, Bale, Ronaldo.

He was simply so good that Zidane opted for a formation with four central midfielders to get Isco into the game. Likewise, in the Spanish national team, he became a key player on whom Julen Lopetegui relied heavily.

But come 2018, Lopetegui, who switched from the national team to Madrid in the summer, was sacked and Santiago Solari came in. The latter swept Isco away, stopped building him completely, even leaving him only in the stands, without giving any reason.

“And from then on, Isco didn’t exist for anyone. Not for the coach, not for the assistants, not for anyone. Nobody wanted to give me an explanation why I suddenly stopped getting minutes, and when I asked Solari directly, he told me that nothing was wrong, but that the coach had decided it. He told me once that he would start believing me, but the next game I was back in the stands. I don’t know if he was laughing at me…” said Isco in an interview with the daily MARCA.

Barcelona? Not even for all the gold in the world

The ball wizard, as he was nicknamed at the time, also said that this was the time he should have left. But leaving Real Madrid, the club of his dreams, is extremely difficult.

“I thought to myself, I’ve played so many good years and now I’m nobody? What more can I do to be considered important for the team? Yes, they extended my contract because I deserved it. And because I was getting a lot of offers and they were afraid I’d go to a rival.

Yes, I’m talking about Barcelona. I got a call from Bartomeu (the president of Barcelona at the time) and with the salaries Bartomeu was giving out at the time… But I was happy in Madrid, we had a great team in the cab. It was my dream team, I didn’t want to leave Madrid even for all the gold in the world,” Isco added.

Source: MARCA