Finidi: I almost joined Real Madrid

Former Super Eagles winger, George Finidi has exclusively revealed to SportingLife.ng that he missed out on the chance to join Spanish giant Real Madrid by whiskers.

The 47-year-old, who is now into coaching was one of the best right wingers during his playing days and following his exploits at the US 94’ World Cup with Nigeria and UEFA Champions League win with Ajax, the Los Blancos came in for him.

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However, the Madrid deal fell through in the final minutes but Finidi eventually moved to La Liga where he joined Real Betis in 1996 and later played for Real Mallorca in two separate spells.

‘I would have loved to play for Real Madrid,’ Finidi revealed to SportingLife.ng. ‘I was really close in closing a deal with the Spanish giants when I left Ajax but at the end of the day it did not happen.’

Asked if he will like to run for office of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) president in future, he replied: ‘If am opportune to make a change, I will start restructuring how the league is played.

‘Referees should be paid very well rather than being influenced by many factors. I will try to change that as well.

‘The FA should generate it’s funds instead of waiting for the government to give them money. If the FA is run by a private entity or entities, we will not have all the fighting and embezzlement of funds. That could be changed.’

Finidi was part of the golden generation of Nigerian footballers that won the 1994 Africa Cup of Nation in Tunisia and named the second most entertaining team in the world after the 1994 FIFA Mundial held in the United States of America.