Italy legend Andrea Pirlo reveals he nearly moved to Manchester City before joining Juventus

Italy legend Andrea Pirlo has explained that he nearly joined Manchester City when Roberto Mancini was in charge of the club.

The Two-time Champions League and World Cup winner has now shed some light on why the move to Manchester City did not happen and he decided to stay on at AC Milan. As reported by FourFourTwo, the Italian legend said:

“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.”

Andrea Pirlo was one of the greatest midfielders of a generation full of sensational midfielders. The Italian was an absolute maestro in the middle of the park and it would have been fun to see what he could achieve in a Manchester City shirt.

Pirlo spend almost his entire playing career in Italy, representing clubs like Inter Milan, AC Milan and Juventus, before making a move to the MLS to play for New York City FC in the twilight of his career.

After an unsuccessful tenure as Juventus manager, Pirlo now manages Turkish Super League side Karagumruk S.K.