"Real Madrid wanted me. It was exciting, but I wasn’t keen at the time!" Ex-Arsenal and Liverpool Jermaine Pennant reveals career regret

Jermaine Pennant of Liverpool looks on during the Premier League match against Newcastle United at Anfield in Liverpool, England, March 2008.

Jermaine Pennant played for 15 clubs during his 20-year career (Image credit: Alamy)

One would imagine that the list of players who have turned down a move to Real Madrid is fairly small.

The 15-time European Cup winners have consistently been one of the biggest clubs in the world, ever since the days when Alfred Di Stéfano and Raymond Kopa were blowing away the rest of the continent.

Trophies are all but guaranteed if you hang around for a couple of years, as is the global spotlight, plus a hefty wage-packet - all things presumably appeal to footballers at the top of their game.

Jermaine Pennant reveals his Real Madrid snub

Jermaine Pennant in action for England's Under-21 side against Switzerland in 2002. — Jermaine Pennant won 24 England U21s caps but never featured for the senior side (Image credit: Getty Images)

So why did Jermaine Pennant turn down a move to the Bernabeu?

The former Liverpool and Arsenal winger wasn’t afraid of a move, turning out for 15 clubs in England, Spain, India and Singapore during his 20-year career, but there’s one huge move that he declined.

Jermaine Pennant at the final of Celebrity Big Brother 2018 (Image credit: Alamy)

“This is a crazy one and many people can’t believe this, but Real Madrid wanted me back in 2010,” he told Adventure Gamers. “It was my last year at Liverpool, I wasn’t going to sign a new contract, and things weren’t really working out between Rafa Benitez and me.

“Madrid came in needing a right-winger for their squad depth, so we had that conversation and it was exciting, but then I asked myself if I wanted to go there and sit on the bench for three years or do I want to go somewhere to be a first team starter and kick-start my career again?

“It was exciting, but I wasn’t keen at the time. Would I go back and change my decision? I wish I could!”

Pennant did make a move to LaLiga when his Liverpool contract expired in 2009, putting pen to paper on a three-year deal at Real Zaragoza, but did not play again for the club after turning up late for training late three times in a fortnight, in February 2010.

ermaine Pennant of Liverpool shoots past the outstretched Paolo Maldini of Milan during the UEFA Champions League Final match between Liverpool and AC Milan at the Olympic Stadium on May 23, 2007 in Athens, Greece. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images) — Pennant played for Liverpool in the 2007 Champions League final (Image credit: Getty Images)

Rather than signing Pennant that summer, Real Madrid had to settle for bringing in the likes of Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Xabi Alonso and Karim Benzema, in a window which saw them break the global transfer record twice.

However, under head coach Manuel Pellegrini, the club could only finish second in La Liga and crashed out of the Champions League in he Round of 16. Perhaps it would all have been different had they twisted the former Notts County youngster’s arm…

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For more than a decade, Joe Mewis has worked in football journalism as a reporter and editor. Mewis has had stints at Mirror Football and LeedsLive among others and worked at FourFourTwo throughout Euro 2024, reporting on the tournament. In addition to his journalist work, Mewis is also the author of four football history books that include times on Leeds United and the England national team. Now working as a digital marketing coordinator at Harrogate Town, too, Mewis counts some of his best career moments as being in the iconic Spygate press conference under Marcelo Bielsa and seeing his beloved Leeds lift the Championship trophy during lockdown.

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