Friend reveals Luis Figo did not want to leave Barcelona for Real Madrid! What happened?

Revelations have emerged about how cornered Luis Figo became by his move to Real Madrid from Barcelona, according to former Atletico Madrid star and friend of the player, Paulo Futre.

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The infamous deal was played out under the backdrop of Los Blancos' presidential elections and Figo had agreed to a move that he had supposedly wanted to back out of.

"When, three days before the elections, [Figo] saw what he had gotten himself into, with death threats to his daughters and everything that was being mounted, he began to retreat," Futre told El Chiringuito on Friday.

"And he told his representative, Jose Veiga, that he was not going to Real Madrid.

"In the last clause it was said that he had to pay 35 million euros to Real, that he had to pay for all the shares of Real Madrid members if he didn't sign."

It is important to remember how much of an underdog Florentino Perez was in the presidential elections, and how his eventual victory affected Figo's camp.

"Neither Veiga nor I, who was also involved in this, thought that Florentino would win the elections," Futre continued.

"When he won them, Veiga was crying and I was worried.

"It was either Figo sign for Madrid or pay them 35m euros. He had to go to Madrid and was in Sardinia, and I didn't want to go.

"Veiga and I went from Lisbon to Sardinia. Figo and his wife were a poem. He had already punched a photographer who had taken a picture of his son

"Figo had no way out, he was tied to the clause.

"You have to put yourself in their place. He was one of the best players but one of the worst paid, he had an offer that was six times higher, but of course, when this comes to light, it was a court issue that Figo or Veiga had to pay, or both."

In five years at Los Blancos, Figo collected two LaLiga titles and a Champions League winners' medal in 2002 while also making himself a pariah in Barcelona for the decades to come.