10 Players Who Rejected Real Madrid
8. Francesco Totti
When Francesco Totti waved an emotional goodbye last month to Roma, after the final game of this season’s Serie A, it ended a playing career, spanning 26 consecutive seasons, for his hometown club.
Despite a storied career, a recent interview revealed among his regrets from his playing career was the fact that he never got to play with the Brazilian Ronaldo (Incidentally, the other was his inability to win the Champions League with Roma).
In 2003, this looked a closer possibility than at any time. He revealed that: “Many years ago, I was pondering to leave Roma to go to Madrid. I was really close, even if it was not true that I was in Spain."
"I would not sign for another Italian club out of respect of the people.