Mourinho’s Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus came knocking

The former Bayern star Franck Ribery revealed in an interview that three top European clubs wanted to sign him during his time at FCB.

When asked about the game with his current club Salernitana against Jose Mourinhos AS Roma next Sunday, the 39-year-old offensive player replied tuttosport: “It will be nice to meet Mourinho. He was never my coach, but we always had a good relationship. We often played against each other in the Champions League and we always talked after the games. He wanted to bring me to Real Madrid, but Bayern didn’t let me go.”

In addition to the royals, FC Barcelona and Juventus Turin were also seriously interested, Ribery explained: “Barcelona and Juventus also called me. But I don’t regret anything, I’m proud to have been with a huge club like Bayern for twelve years. There I won everything and was able to write important chapters in the history of the club.”

From 2007 to 2019, Ribery played a total of 425 competitive games for Bayern, scoring 124 goals. The Frenchman won nine German championship titles and the Champions League in 2013 with the Munich team.

After two years in Florence, Ribery has been playing for Salernitana since the start of the season. He is in a relegation battle with the Italian first division club, for whom he has played 18 times to date. Ribery’s contract expires at the end of June.