Real Madrid’s Valverde Opens Up On Failed Arsenal Trial

Real Madrid’s Federico Valverde, has acknowledged that he “wasn’t comfortable” at Arsenal during his brief trial in 2016.

Valverde also admitted that he never really wanted to play his football in England, despite the temptation of the riches on offer in the Premier League. The 25-year-old claims that several people around him desperately wanted to send him to England just so they could make money through him, and he felt obligated to at least give life with Arsenal a try after being invited for a trial.

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The Uruguayan had his opportunity to join Arsenal in 2016, but then-manager Arsene Wenger ulitmately decided against adding him to the first-team squad. In the same year, he eventually moved to Europe when Los Blancos secured his signature from Penarol.

The midfielder wrote this in his Players’ Tribune column: “If you Google me, you will see stories about how I almost went to Arsenal when I was 16. That’s maybe half-true. It’s nothing against Arsenal, but I never wanted to go to England. At that time, the business side of football took over. Certain people were telling me, ‘Who wouldn’t want to go play for Arsenal? You want to stay here in Uruguay? That’s crazy!’ What they were really saying under their breath was, “We can all make a lot of money if you go.”

“You realize that your life is not your own in football. Especially at a young age, you feel more like a hostage. Even your family becomes a hostage. Football is an escape to a better life, especially for us in South America, and the vultures know that. They put the pressure on you in a “nice” way. ‘Damn, Fede, if you go to Arsenal, you’ll have a nice bed and a shower that stays warm for 30, 40 minutes! Who wouldn’t want that life?’ They sent me on trial to London for a week, and I just wasn’t comfortable. If you only think of material things, it sounds great. But we are not robots. The reality was that my family couldn’t come to London with me. I’d have to live alone, not speaking the language, at 16 years old. For every one kid who succeeds in moving overseas, you don’t see the 100 who fail.”

With nine trophies to his credit, Valverde has progressively become one of the most important players of the Real Madrid team. He will be looking to increase that total in 2023–24, but first he will be seen playing for Uruguay, who will play Argentina in a 2026 World Cup qualification match on Friday.