Real Madrid Italian's party dialled the Bernabéu before committing

The day that Florentino Pérez decided to call time on Carlo Ancelotti's reign in the Real Madrid hotseat, the 'Los Blancos' chief was turning his back on a man who was Real Madrid through and through.

From the moment it was announced that he had been given the boot by Real Madrid, there was no shortage of offers. Amongst others, Chelsea and Manchester United considered Ancelotti to be the ideal candidate to take over at their clubs. The response was 'no', in all instances.

Ancelotti was holding out for that one phone call which would allow him to complete an unfinished project. He wouldn't have minded, and was fully prepared to bide his time and start from scratch in the summer of 2016. He was living in hope more than anything, but he just couldn't bear to rule out the prospect.

Things got to such an extent that with a contract on the table at Bayern Munich and contractual negotiations well underway, Ancelotti's representatives were telephoning the powers that be at the Bernabéu to assure themselves that there was absolutely no chance of Ancelotti making a return to the capital club to lead 'his' team.

Real Madrid had other plans however, and they made this perfectly clear to Ancelotti's entourage. The Italian's hopes were left in tatters as reality set in.