Had Portuguese giants FC Porto been open to negotiate, Benni McCarthy would have Barcelona listed as one of the teams he played for in his illustrious career.
South African football darling, McCarthy recalls the time he was at the peak of his career, playing for Portuguese powerhouse Porto in between 2003 and 2006, and his club were approached by Spanish giants Barcelona.
However, the then Jose Mourinho-led Porto valued McCarthy too much as he was a key player, and did not entertain any advances from interested parties.
“Johan Cruyff (former Barcelona and Ajax Amsterdam attacker) tried to for Barcelona to sign me from Porto because of the Ajax system that I played and the success I had with Porto, I think Barcelona were going through some kind of transition just before Frank Rijkaard (ex-Barcelona head coach) came in,” McCarthy said on SoccerBeat.
“Before Rijkaard came in, Barcelona were looking at a striker who can also play on the right wing. He [Cruyff] knew that when I was at Ajax I used to play on the wing.
“He said to Barcelona – when I was at Ajax – I was perfect because they turned me from a right winger to a striker and they made me play both positions, and [he said] I was perfect, and I would understand the system that Barcelona played because I came through the Ajax system.
“Barcelona spoke to Porto, but Porto was in no negotiation mode, so they did not want to lose me and they did not want to sell me. It kind of fell through,” McCarthy added.
Had the former Bafana Bafana and Ajax star’s move to the Spanish giants materialized, he was going to become only the second South African player to turn out for Barcelona. Steve “Kalamazoo” Mokone was in the books of the Catalonia-based outfit between 1959 and 1960.
McCarthy, nonetheless, appears to be quite pleased that the move did not happen, as he went on to enjoy spells at Blackburn Rovers, West Ham United before hanging up his boots with Orlando Pirates.
“It was between the two clubs, I don’t think people even knew about it, but yeah, I was this close to almost going to Barcelona,”
“I think it was going to be disastrous because I then became a natural striker at Porto, that was my role. I think had I gone to Barcelona, I would’ve had to settle for playing right wing sometimes and striker, and I am not sure if I would have enjoyed that.”
