© EuroFootball.com
Portuguese Luis Figo, who was named the best European footballer of 2000 and the best World footballer of 2001, has moved from Madrid to Milan, thus ending a 5-year association with the Royal club.
Although the 32-year-old Portuguese still had a one-year contract with Real, conflicts with Madrid's coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo, who often kept the player on the bench at the end of last season, forced L. Figo to leave the Real team.
The versatile midfielder signed a two-year contract with Inter, earning around 3 million euros per season. In Roberto Mancini's team, he is expected to play in the midfield alongside Argentinians Juan Sebastian Veron and Esteban Cambiasso, and create opportunities for Inter's main attacking leader, Brazilian Adriano.
Ten years ago, Figo almost moved to Italy, but his transfer was halted when it was revealed that he had signed two different agreements with the clubs Parma and Juventus. Later, he rushed to join Barcelona, with whom he won the Spanish championship and league cup twice.
Figo's name was especially loud in July 2000 when he moved to Real Madrid, the fierce rival of Barcelona, for a record sum. Most fans of the Catalan club have not forgiven this betrayal to this day and used to throw bricks, mobile phones, and even a pig's head onto the field during "El Clasico."
After unexpectedly leaving the Portuguese national team and returning to it, L. Figo was also offered contracts by European champions Liverpool, Valencia, and other famous clubs, but they failed to reach an agreement. However, Figo's transfer to Inter was quickly finalized when the Milan club presented an ultimatum to the player.
"There were too many intermediaries who did absolutely nothing. A lot of time was wasted - that's why negotiations that were supposed to last two days took two months," Figo complained. "Nevertheless, I managed to complete the transfer. The meeting with Moratti (owner of Inter) was crucial, because we sorted everything out in 24 hours. We'll see if I can play football at Inter."
Today, after passing a medical examination, Figo became the third player from Real who moved to Inter this summer - the club that already acquired Argentine players Walter Samuel and Santiago Solari for the upcoming season.
