When he signed for Actual Madrid again in 2007, Royston Drenthe was thought of one of many prime younger gamers in world soccer. Nonetheless, he didn’t ship on his potential, as he managed solely 59 appearances for the membership earlier than his departure 5 years later.
This week, Drenthe was talking on The Wild Mission, and one of many subjects he mentioned was that transfer to Actual Madrid, as per Diario AS.
“Earlier than signing for Actual Madrid, Barcelona wished me, additionally Chelsea, however they wished me to remain at Feyenoord for a 12 months and I wished to go away instantly, so I made a decision that I most well-liked to go to Actual Madrid as a result of, though virtually all my household was Barcelona – due to Ronaldinho, as a result of in Holland they comply with Barcelona rather a lot – Ronaldo was nonetheless enjoying for Madrid and he was nonetheless a king. I wished to play the place Beckham, Ronaldo and Zidane had been. In Holland they name me a legend only for having performed for Actual Madrid. That’s why I rejected Barcelona, as a result of I knew that Actual Madrid was a historic membership.”
Drenthe additionally opened up on his departure in 2012, by which he criticised the conduct on then-manager Jose Mourinho.
“Within the pre-season in Los Angeles, me and Marcelo have been enjoying. Marcelo was injured and I needed to play the entire pre-season. Every part went properly. I don’t know why they went to signal Fabio Coentrão. Mourinho advised me: ‘In case you practice like this, you don’t have to fret.’ Every part was high quality. However within the final three days of the camp, Valdano got here and advised me that it was higher if I left. It wasn’t the coach, it was Valdano. The coach didn’t have the balls to inform me. He advised me that it had nothing to do with him. That stage led to a tragic approach however I’ve a very good reminiscence as a result of I realized rather a lot.”
Drenthe, who was in Spanish soccer as lately as 2023, additionally claimed that he was racially abused by Lionel Messi throughout a mortgage spell at Hercules.
“In a sport once I was at Hercules, in opposition to Barcelona, Messi referred to as me a s***** n*****. Then he advised me that the Argentine gamers amongst them have been referred to as s***** b*****, for them it was a standard factor, for instance they mentioned it to Garay and he didn’t care, however they’ve to know {that a} boy like me didn’t prefer it. It’s not the identical if my associates advised me in coaching, than if a rival advised me it. After that now we have not talked about it once more, the difficulty handed. I’ve quite a lot of respect for him as a result of he has been among the finest gamers on the earth.”