​Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has revealed that Real Madrid midfielder Isco nearly ended up playing for the Premier League side before eventually choosing to move to the Spanish giants in 2013 instead.





The playmaker, now 24, played under Pellegrini at Malaga before his move to the Bernabeu, leaving in the same summer as the Chilean. The outgoing City manager has now revealed just how close Isco was to following him all the way to Manchester, saying that an agreement was in place for the move.





​He told Marca: "For any footballer it's a dream to play in Madrid. Isco had everything arranged to play for City, but there were reasons that eventually took him there [to Madrid]. I don't want to analyse those reasons. I understand that he wanted to play in Madrid. It is an experience that made him grow. He is in a great team, always training with great players.”

City have been linked with further approaches for the Spaniard in recent transfer windows as he struggled to nail down a first-team spot in Madrid, but nothing has yet materialised.





A future move looks off the cards at the moment, with Pellegrini being replaced by Pep Guardiola at the Etihad in the summer, but the Chilean claimed that Isco would have made a success of a spell with the club.





"Isco would have done great things at City. I’ve always liked the technical, creative, capable midfielders to score goals, which are [David] Silva, Nasri or Santi Cazorla," he said. “Isco would have had an important place here. If coming to the City would have been better or worse for him, it's not for me to evaluate."

​For more from Chris when he's not writing on 90min, follow him on Twitter at @ThatChris1209!

Don't miss out - subscribe to the 90min podcast - now on iTunes HERE and back on SoundCloud over here!



