Many players dream of making a massive move to Real Madrid in their career, but these 10 stars rejected the chance to join Los Blancos.
Click through the gallery to see 10 players who rejected Real Madrid
It's not often that Los Blancos are willing to go out of their way to sign a certain player, but, for these footballers, the interest from one of the world's largest football clubs was not enough to lure them to Madrid.
It's a well-known fact that FC Barcelona star Neymar, while he was still contracted to Santos, went on trial at Real, but he decided to return to Brazil despite Los Blancos' interest in signing him.
Patrick Vieira is another player who decided to snub the Spanish giants, having declined to leave Arsenal in the early 2000s. However, the Frenchman reportedly regrets not making the move.
Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard also could have signed for the Madrid club when Jose Mourinho was in charge. Despite wanting to play under the Portuguese tactician, though, the Merseysider could not walk away from his boyhood club Liverpool, the team he won the 2005 UEFA Champions League trophy with.
Paul Pogba was reportedly being chased by Real last season, and said he wanted to move to La Liga, but to Barcelona. However, the transfer did not take place because of the Catalan club's transfer ban at the time.
Barca midfielder Sergio Busquets was also close to leaving the Blaugrana for Los Blancos at one stage, when he was a youngster with the Barca B team. The player had not yet heard if he was going to get a new deal at the Camp Nou, thus attracting interest from Real, but when Barca offered him a new contract, signing on the dotted line was a no-brainer for him.
Gallery: Injury-Prone Stars Who Could Have Achieved More
The rest of the gallery includes stars such as Luis Suarez, Franck Ribery, Stevan Jovetic, Francesco Totti, and Sergio Aguero, all players who opted against joining the Madrid giants at one time or another.
Do you think these players made the correct decisions in snubbing Real? Let us know in the comments section below.
