“Now I’m like a little kid at Disney.”

Isco Alarconduring an extensive interview with Jorge Valdano in Movistar +explained that in January last year, after an angry breakup with Sevilla FCbecause he almost got into a fight with Monchi in front of the rest of his classmates, he received a call Iago Aspas sign for him Celticafter negotiations broke down to sign a contract Berlin Uniondespite traveling to the German capital to conclude an agreement.

“From this trip comes the need to stop.”

“I had offers to go to Arabia… but Union Berlin came out, the team in which I stayed there for the shortest time, arrived at night and was already returning to Seville the next afternoon. When I arrived the next morning, while I was undergoing a medical examination, they told me that they could not register me in the Europa League and they wanted to change several points in the contract… From that return journey came the need to stop. On the way back, it’s something I never counted on. I receive an offer from Celta, who calls me Iago Aspas. And I said I can’t. I need to rest, process ideas, my mind, I can’t accept the offer because that I don’t think I was ready to act morally. It was the end of January, the last day of the market, and I said that I was not going to listen to any offers. “I said I’m going to treat myself mentally and I’m going to come back strong. Psychic therapy really helped me understand a lot of things.”

Said and done Isco He had spent several months training alone with his strength and conditioning coach when he received a call Betis He put aside all the offers that were on the table: “I had offers from Arabia, England and Italy. A call came in from Plains and Pellegrini. I talked with Joaquin, saw the atmosphere of the team, the locker room, the fans. … Today, “I can tell you that this is one of the best decisions I’ve made,” he said. Isco, before noting that “now I’m like a little kid at Disney.” “It’s important to be in a place where you are given confidence. They gave it to me from the first minute. Since I set foot in Seville again,” he said. “I hope I can win the title here. I hope I can return to the Spanish national team,” he said.

Isco also remembers his arrival in Malagathe team of his life, coming from the quarry Valenciawhere did it coincide with Borja Iglesias: “My arrival in Malaga was impressive, I arrived at a boom time, with very big ambitions at the club. Cazorla, Joaquin, Van Nistelrooy, Baptista… It was something I had never seen in Malaga. They were two very good years: “It’s a dream, it’s not easy to do. Everything worked out well. I came to Malaga and found that I had a project and an ambitious team that wanted the ball and played very well with Pellegrini,” he says.

“He arrived in the U-21 national team later with Julen Lopetegui, we had a great team with De Gea, Thiago, Koke, Morata, Muniain and Canales. We won that European Championship in impressive fashion, the final against Italy’s Verratti and Immobile. .. “We played great, didn’t lose a single game. Youth makes you no longer aware of what is happening. It was an incredible time, although there I already knew that I would have to leave Malaga no matter what because of everything that was happening.”

Isco had to leave Malagamoved to real Madrid for 30 million euros in the summer of 2013 due to the financial problems of the Malaga team: “I was sad to leave Malaga so early, it was two wonderful years. I was sad that although the project was working and producing results, “To not continue betting on the team and the players, something had to happen and in the end I had to leave. We had a tough sheikh,” he adds, having in mind Al-Thaniexpelled from the club by court decision since 2020.

“I was sad to leave Malaga so early, it was two wonderful years”

Isco AlarconReal Betis footballer

Since its passing Malaga He still remembers with pain the collision with Borussia in Dortmund. (3-2), in which disgraceful refereeing prevented them from reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League after 0:0 in the first leg and taking the lead twice on the scoreboard, first with a goal Joaquin and then with the other one Eliseu. “I still haven’t been able to see a picture of that match, it’s the match that hurt me the most in my life. I was not able to see a single replay of this match, I will not forget the pain that this match excited me. Except for elimination, that’s how. We went 1-2 and from the 90th minute we were turned around. I didn’t want to see absolutely anything. This there was qualification for the semi-finals of the Champions League with the team of your life, we would have met Madrid… It was very painful.”

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The summer he signed for real Madrid, Isco was very close to going Manchester With Pellegrini: “I remember the conversation I had with Manuel Pellegrini before leaving Malaga because he already had a contract with Manchester City. Before we went on holiday, I told him I was leaving with him, but then I got a call from Real Madrid. two large doors were open and I had to make a decision. Xabi Mancisidor, Malaga’s goalkeeping coach, who also went to City, called me and I told him: “Xabi, I’m going to Madrid, I can’t say no.” “I’ve won this title for years. The champions and I have a feeling it’s going to fall.” And look, we won the Decima that year.”