On October 3rd, recently, former Real Madrid sporting director Mijatovic revealed in an interview that during his tenure (2006-2009), he was once very close to signing Barcelona’s midfielder Iniesta for a transfer fee of 60 million euros at the age of 22.
Mijatovic disclosed that he had once reached a preliminary agreement with Iniesta’s father, planning to pay his buyout clause (60 million euros) and bring this talented La Masia midfielder to Madrid. “Yes, I wanted to sign him. We were very close. Well… I don’t know if we were close. But we took advantage of the moment when he had not yet completed his contract extension. We talked to his father, and we also tried to seize this opportunity to talk to his representatives. His buyout clause was very high, but we were determined to pay it.” However, everything fell apart when Laporta became the president of Barcelona. The then-president of Barcelona, Laporta, insisted on renewing Iniesta’s contract.
At that time, Real Madrid spent over 72 million euros to bring in Zidane, setting a record for the highest transfer fee; Iniesta’s 60 million euro buyout clause was even identical to the fee Real Madrid paid to poach Figo at that time.
Former Real Madrid Sporting Director Reveals: Very Close to Signing Iniesta, but the Deal Fell Through After Laporta Took Office. Author：Sports UEFA.Please indicate the source when reproduced：https://www.sportsuefa.com/football-world/former-real-madrid-sporting-director-reveals-very-close-to-signing-iniesta-but-the-deal-fell-through-after-laporta-took-office.html
