Konterman rejected Real Madrid move to avoid learning Spanish

CAIRO_29 May 2020: Playing for the biggest clubs in Europe is the dream of every football player and they do many sacrifices on many levels to wear the jersey of a great club but it was not the case for Bert Konterman.

Bert Konterman, the former Dutch national team defender, revealed that he rejected an offer from Spanish giants, Real Madrid, in 1999 summer due to a fear of learning the Spanish language.

"That summer, Real Madrid offered 20 million guilder for me. Leo Beenhakker was my coach and he'd been Real Madrid coach." Konterman said.

The Dutch defender who was a key player for Beenhakker's Feyenoord side and he couldn't believe Real Madrid's offer to sign him.

Konterman added "In my mind, my next move should have been to Germany or Great Britain, because I was speaking German very well and English pretty good."

Konterman decided to stay in Holland for one more year as he was nervous about moving to Spain and learning the Spanish language.

The Dutch defender continued "Spain was a little bit scary for me because I was a bit nervous for a big move to a club like that and I was a little bit nervous about learning Spanish."

Konterman decided to stay in Feyenoord for one year and missed the chance to join Los Blancos and win the UEFA Champions League title. In 2000 summer, the player decided to move to Scotland to play for Glasgow Rangers.