Two-time Champions League and World Cup winner Andrea Pirlo has explained that he nearly joined Manchester City when Roberto Mancini was in charge of the club.
Pirlo would spend almost the entirety of his career in Italy before seeing out his professional football days at the Blues' affiliate club New York City FC in the MLS. Despite staying in his home country, the 43-year-old would make more than 750 club appearances during his star-studded time as a player.
During his time at Juventus and AC Milan, Pirlo won almost everything that there is to be won however, in 2011 he could have easily made the switch to the Premier League.
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Speaking to FourFourTwo, he explained: "I spoke with Juventus, with Roberto Mancini’s Manchester City and with other big teams, but in the end I decided to go to Turin because they had a good project to get back to winning ways. They had just gone through some tough years, but they had a new stadium and were building a new Juve, where I would be an important player, so I decided to go there."
A year prior to his move to the Old Lady, Pirlo revealed that he was left flattered by then-Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola expressing an interest in signing the midfielder. "He [Guardiola] called me in [to his office after the game] and started talking about how he wanted to play and how he would like me to join his team," the Italian added.
"For me it was a source of pride, especially to talk to him and also to be compared to a Barcelona player. In the end, nothing happened, but being called by Guardiola into his office to talk was a wonderful experience."
Pirlo explained further that Guardiola was picturing a midfield three of the Italian, Andres Iniesta and Xavi at Camp Nou. Having retired in 2018, the 43-year-old is now manager of Turkish side Karagumruk.
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