Andrea Pirlo was "very, very close" to signing for Real Madrid in 2006 and also held talks with Pep Guardiola's Barcelona.
Pirlo played for Milan between 2001 and 2011, winning two Serie A titles as well as a pair of Champions League trophies with the Italian giants.
But during this time, the Rossoneri were involved in the Calciopoli scandal as one of five teams accused of fixing Serie A matches.
This brought their future participation in Serie A and the Champions League into doubt as Pirlo won the 2006 World Cup with Italy, and a move to Santiago Bernabeu almost materialised.
The former midfielder told FourFourTwo: "We had just won the World Cup, but we didn't know what would happen.
"I was very, very close with Real Madrid. But then we got told that Milan could enter Champions League qualifying and be readmitted to Serie A.
"I was offered a new contract straight away and the club did a lot to keep me."
Pirlo also had discussions with Madrid's rivals Barcelona and head coach Guardiola in 2010. "He 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," he recalled.
"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, now the head coach of Turkish side Fatih Karagumruk, was wanted by English sides, too, with Chelsea one of those who tried to lure him away from Milan.
"Ancelotti asked me to go with him [to Chelsea]," the 43-year-old said. "The two teams talked about it with my agent, and there was a big chance.
"But in the end, when it was time to sign the contract, Silvio Berlusconi [then Milan owner] and Adriano Galliani [CEO] didn't want me to go."
Manchester City also tried to unsuccessfully bring Pirlo to the Premier League before he eventually joined Juventus, where he stayed for four years before ending his career with MLS franchise New York City FC.
"I spoke with Juventus, with Roberto Mancini's Manchester City and with other big teams," he explained. "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."
Premier League MD12: Lucky winners and unlucky losers
Pep Guardiola may have signed a new contract at Manchester City, but there was no turnaround in fortunes for the Premier League champions.
City were humbled 4-0 by Tottenham at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, losing a fifth straight game in all competitions.
Liverpool capitalised on that result, coming from behind to beat lowly Southampton 3-2 on Sunday and moving eight points clear at the top in the process.
Ruben Amorim made his bow as Manchester United boss in a 1-1 draw with Ipswich Town at Portman Road, while Chelsea and Arsenal are hot on Man City's heels.
We also saw a managerial departure, with Leicester City parting ways with Steve Cooper after four league matches without a win.
But, who were the unlucky losers, and lucky winners, from the weekend's Premier League fixtures?
Unlucky losers: Fulham
Man City were not the only team to ship four goals on Saturday, with Fulham also having that unwanted badge of honour following their 4-1 home loss to Wolves.
But while Wolves were excellent on the counter and clinical when their chances came, it is fair to say Fulham were unfortunate to concede four times, given they only gave up 1.3 expected goals against (xGA).
Indeed, Fulham and Wolves both had 10 shots, while both teams also had 23 touches in the opponents' box.
It was a bad day at the office for Marco Silva, but he can at least take solace that the numbers suggest they were somewhat unfortunate.
Unlucky losers: Bournemouth
Bournemouth were beaten 2-1 by Brighton on Saturday, as the Seagulls held off their south coast rivals despite Carlos Baleba's red card.
David Brooks pulled one back for Bournemouth late on, as Andoni Iraola's team fell short of their 1.6 xG.
Brighton, on the other hand, accumulated just 0.9 xG, the third-lowest total of any of the 18 games to have been played across Saturday and Sunday.
Bournemouth had 19 shots but only got five of them on target. Brighton, on the other hand, sent four of their six attempts on target.
Lucky winners: Tottenham
Time for some controversy...
Spurs were brilliant against City, with James Maddison marking his 28th birthday with a first-half double before Pedro Porro and Brennan Johnson got in on the act after the break.
Yet, the metrics suggest Tottenham were fortunate to keep a clean sheet, with City - who had 23 attempts - accumulating 2.1 xG.
That is not to say Spurs were not impressive going the other way. They finished with 2.5 xG from just nine shots, showing they created high-calibre chances.
But should it really have been 4-0? The numbers suggest not, but then again, stats must always be used within context and should not be all we go off.
De Bruyne describes 'chaotic' Man City scenes
Kevin De Bruyne conceded there has been some chaos behind the scenes at Manchester City, but refuted the suggestion there is a dark atmosphere.
City have lost their last five games in all competitions, while they are eight points back from leaders Liverpool in the Premier League.
Their dismal run of form continued with a shock 4-0 loss at home to Tottenham on Saturday.
De Bruyne, who has featured just six times in the Premier League this season and made just four starts, says there is not a bad mood in the camp, though.
"I wouldn't say dark, it's been a bit chaotic," said the Belgian ahead of Tuesday's Champions League clash with Feyenoord.
"I've seen so many people pass around the medical area, sport science, whose playing and not playing. There's been so many people playing who shouldn't have been playing.
"The games against Sporting, Brighton and Bournemouth were all over the place. Tottenham was more normal.
"I didn't see too much change, everyone is down about the five losses. You have to move on."
City have already shipped 17 league goals this term, while they were beaten 4-1 by Sporting CP in their last European outing.
Since their losing run started with a 2-1 loss to Spurs in the EFL Cup on October 30, City have conceded 14 goals from 10.6 expected goals against (xGA).
"There's only so much you can control from the sides. It's not a nice feeling but it's fine," De Bryne added.
"It seems like we're not really dealing with the moments when it goes bad. There's moments like the Tottenham game which we do really well. The main issue is both boxes. We're conceding too many goals. I don't think we played a bad game the other day but we lost 4-0."
"If you give five chances against Tottenham, that's not that bad. They get two tap-ins. With the way we play, you have to accept there's more opportunity for teams to have a counter. At the moment, we're not dealing with this in a good way.
"We're always going to give a chance away. We're giving it away too many times. When we give a chance at goal, it's basically a goal."
De Bruyne is out of contract at the end of the season, though the 33-year-old is not overly concerned about his future.
"I honestly don't know. At the start of the season, I knew talks would happen but then the thing [injury] happened in Brentford. It was meant to be a couple of days and then it was eight, nine weeks. I put it all to the side," he added.
"I'm not too worried. I'm fine. I'm happy, I just want to play good football again and the future, we'll see.
"I only can really give you the answers, but I don't know. If there's no talks it will be my last year at the club, but I don't know.
"I had a conversation in the summer, but then I had the injury so I wasn't in the right frame of mind to talk about that. I need to be back on the pitch and be myself again. There's no rush, I don't feel uncomfortable, I'm not worried."
Real Madrid dealt Vinicius injury blow before Champions League clash at Liverpool
Vinicius Junior is set to miss his side's Champions League clash at Liverpool after sustaining a leg muscle injury, Real Madrid announced.
Reports suggest that Vinicius could be sidelined for at least three weeks, which means he could miss up to seven games in all competitions before the winter break, including against Girona and Athletic Bilbao in LaLiga and a Champions League visit to Atalanta.
The Brazilian played all 90 minutes against Leganes on Sunday, setting up Kylian Mbappe's opener in Madrid's 3-0 win.
In the Champions League, he is the second-highest scorer, having netted four times in four matches, while only Rico Lewis (13) has created more chances than him (12).
"Following tests carried out today on our player Vini Jr by the Real Madrid Medical Services, he has been diagnosed with an injury to the biceps femoris in his left leg. Pending evolution," Madrid said in a statement.
Vinicius is the latest to join the club's lengthy injury list, which includes key players like Rodrygo, Eder Militao, Dani Carvajal, Lucas Vazquez, Aurelien Tchouameni and David Alaba.
Madrid are second in the LaLiga standings on 30 points. However, after two losses in their last three games in the Champions League, Carlo Ancelotti's side could be in trouble with a bad result at Anfield. They are 18th in the 36-team table with six points from four games.
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