Los Blancos did not want to offer Francesco Totti more money than what Raul is earning, thus the deal failed but he was very close to a transfer to Real Madrid.
The Roma legend ended up as a loyal Roma soldier who never left the club during his entire career by turning down that famous transfer to Real.
“I was 80% ready to move to Real Madrid. It wasn’t the best period for Roma, although it’s true that the management at the time would have done everything I could ask for,” Totti said for Marca.
“Real offered a lot of money, they also offered me a lot, everything I could wish for. I should have got a 25 million euro contract, they offered me everything except the captain’s armband because Raul was there. He was a player who had to earn the most.”
