Álvaro Negredo had an opportunity to join Atlético Madrid before opting for Manchester City in 2013.
On Thursday, Negredo announced his retirement and has been speaking El Partidazo de Cope‘s Juanma Castaño to review his playing career that spanned over two decades.
The Spainard joined a foreign club for the first team when he moved to Manchester City from Sevilla.
He scored 31 goals and registered six assists for the Andalusian club during the 2012/13 season. The 39-year-old was approached by both Atlético Madrid and Manchester City in the summer of 2013.
Cope claim Negredo was ‘close to taking an unexpected’ step by joining Los Rojiblancos, without providing any explanation.
“I was on the verge of signing for Atlético Madrid when I left Sevilla, but I ended up going to Manchester City,” he said.
The former Citizens striker had positive things to say about Los Rojiblancos’ proposal.
“The offer was good, but in the end, it didn’t come to fruition,” Negredo explained.
According to Cope, Manchester City presented an economic and a sporting proposal to the former striker that was ‘difficult to reject’.
Manuel Pellegrini was then in charge at Manchester City and under the Chilean’s orders, he scored 23 goals and registered six assists from 49 games during the 2013/14 season.
In the summer of 2014, Manchester City let him join Valencia on a loan deal and Los Ches made his stay permanent a year later.