Former Nigeria international Finidi George has revealed why his move from Ajax to Spanish giants Real Madrid failed to materialise.
Speaking in an interview with ACLSports, Finidi said the deal failed to go through due to Madrid’s inability to meet the transfer fee demanded by Ajax.
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“Ajax told Real Madrid if they cannot pay the transfer fee ($4million) within the date stipulated I am free to go where I want to go. That didn’t happen, they couldn’t reach an agreement with Ajax,” Finidi said.
“The league was about to start, we were suppose to comeback after holidays and I got another offer from (Real) Betis. They were willing to pay Ajax the transfer fee and pay me what I wanted and I felt it was time for me to leave.”
The 49-year-old added: “Madrid could not meet the transfer fee because they’d already bought a lot of players that summer (1996). Roberto Carlos, (Clarence) Seedorf, (Pedrag) Mejatovic, (Davor) Suker, (Fernando) Redondo, I think they bought five, six players.
“And I spoke with (Fabio) Capello and he said he wanted me in his team and I said okay. We spoke and had pre-contract and based on what they do with Ajax if it’s going to be valid or not.
“We reached an agreement and personal terms it was okay better than I had with Betis, but the only problem was they couldn’t reach an agreement with Ajax.”
Finidi’s best moment with Betis was finishing runner-up in the Copa del Rey in 1997.
And during his time at Ajax Finidi won the Dutch Eredivisie the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup and the now defunct Intercontinental Cup.
Finidi went on to play for another Spanish side Mallorca before moving to the Premier League where he signed for Ipswich Town.
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