Real Madrid tried to sign Barcelona midfielder, claims player’s father

Nico Gonzalez is enjoying a fine breakthrough campaign at Barcelona this season.

The 20-year-old midfielder has been with the club’s La Masia academy since 2016 and made his first-team debut in August last year. Since then, he has made rapid strides, becoming a key member of the senior squad.

Nico has made 29 appearances for Barça across all competitions, scoring and assisting two goals apiece. While he was handed a new contract by the club only last year, the Catalan giants are already contemplating offering him another deal to reflect his growing status in the team.

However, it could all have happened very differently for Nico and Barcelona. His father and former Deportivo La Coruna footballer, Fran Gonzalez, has revealed that the midfielder could have ended up at Real Madrid, who made moves to try and sign him in the past.

“It was an easy decision for the kid to come to Barcelona,” Fran told ESPN. “He had the chance to go to Madrid or Barca and he chose Barca. Well, him and his mum chose Barcelona!”

Fran Gonzalez also revealed that Nico was reluctant to get into football at a young age, but once he started, he never looked back.

“Nico didn’t want to play football at first. When he was 6, he had no interest. I was still playing and maybe he was tired of going from place to place [due to football]. But then one day arrived and, I don’t know why, but he just started to play.”

Fran also opened up on how Nico’s performance against Barcelona in a game for his local club Montaneros at a tournament in Galicia, when he was just ten years old, compelled the Catalans to sign him.

“That game was the deciding factor for Barca to say: ‘Bloody hell! We’ve got a player here,'” Fran said.

Able to play in multiple positions in the middle of the park, Nico offers a lot of flexibility and tactical versatility for Barcelona. However, as his father reveals, it was not all easy-going for the young midfielder.

“It was difficult when he was 15 because he grew 25 cm and he didn’t have much strength. I was working at Manchester City at the time and when I came to see him he was very thin and very tall. That was perhaps the worst moment for him so far,” Fran said.

Manchester City have held a long-standing interest in Nico, and Fran claimed that the Barcelona starlet had multiple offers from abroad to leave while he was 16, but he opted to continue in Catalonia.

“He had offers from abroad, very big offers, a lot of money, but his dream was to play for Barcelona. It’s been a huge sacrifice, above all for his siblings, who didn’t want to go to Barcelona, but the dream has been fulfilled this season,” Fran explained.