Former Porto and Atletico Madrid footballer Paulo Futre revealed in a recent interview that Roma manager Jose Mourinho had been approached by Real Madrid in the summer of 2021. Ultimately, the Special One signed with the Giallorossi instead.
“Jose won the Conference League last year,” Futre said in an interview with SerieANews. “He’s accepted Roma’s project and believes in it since the moment he signed with the club.”
“He even rejected Real Madrid. When Zidane left, he’d already signed with Roma, but could have still gone to Madrid.”
“Someone from Madrid’s management called him, but he preferred to join Roma and get started with this new project instead.”
Futre also revealed that his big dream as a footballer in the 80s had been to play for the Giallorossi.
“After seeing Bruno Conti at the World Cup in ’82 he became my idol and made me want to join Roma. It was a dream of mine. I even came close to it – I met with [Roma president] Dino Viola in Madrid, but no agreement was reached between the clubs.”
