Iniesta almost left Barca in 2006… For Real Madrid!

Iniesta almost made the move to 'the dark side' in 2006.

Yes, you did hear that correctly. Barcelona icon Andres Iniesta, who is now contracted to the Catalans for life, came within inches of moving to the club’s arch-rivals.

Iniesta has made 633 appearances for Barca since making his debut back in 2002 and has become somewhat synonymous with the club, however, the player came within a whisker of become ‘the new Figo’.

Back in 2006, ‘Los Blancos’ were holding elections for a new president following the end of Florentino Perez’s first spell at the helm.

According to Spanish publication ‘AS’ a handful of votes prevented Iniesta from sawpping one La Liga giant for another and causing major controversy in the process.

Juan Palacios was amongst those running for the post, with his choice of manager being one Jose Antonio Camacho.

The former Spanish international had an excellent relationship with Iniesta’s family and has since confirmed that Real had reached an agreement in principle with the player back in 2006 that would have seen him move to the Bernabeu, had Palacios’ bid for the presidency been successful.

At that point, Iniesta was open to the move, having been left furious by the decision to leave him on the bench for the Champions League final against Arsenal.

It wasn’t to be though. In the end, Ramon Calderon won the election and the chance to sign Iniesta disappeared. The classy playmaker went on to write his name into Barcelona legend, often giving Real the run-around in the process.

What could have been.

Sporting Tribune