10 Players You Didn't Know Barcelona Almost Signed

6. Fernando Morientes

Fernando Morientes is a Real Madrid legend, but in 2002, when the striker was at the peak of his powers, he came perilously close to crossing the Clasico divide by signing for Barcelona in highly-complex circumstances. At the time, Real were trying to negotiate a deal with Inter Milan for Ronaldo, but the Italians were keen to include Morientes as part of the deal, knowing they could sell him on to Barca for a profit as the Catalans' chief Joan Gaspart was known to be keen on the ‚24 million forward. While in Monaco for Real's Uefa Super Cup clash against Feyenoord, Morientes was told by club official Emilio Butragueno that he would be included in the deal that was to bring Ronaldo to the Bernabeu on transfer deadline day, while his agent informed him he would be moving straight to Barcelona. Moritentes recalled:

"I was sweating a lot that day, I was in Monaco. Butragueno came and told me everything. And I thought: 'If Madrid don't want me then playing for Barca wouldn't be bad ...'"

In the end however, Barca pulled the plug on negotiations with Morientes in a perceived bid to wreck Real's hopes of signing Ronaldo from Inter. The plan failed, as the Italians instead agreed on a straight cash deal and Morientes stayed at the Bernabeu for another three years. "It was a very unpleasant experience for me," Morientes added.

"I wanted to stay at Madrid but for a few hours I didn't know what was going on. I received a lot of support from my team-mates and, in the end, I stayed."