Fernando Redondo left Real Madrid in strange circumstances, with the fans organising demonstrations to prevent his departure.
As soon as he landed in Italy ahead of a move to AC Milan, an injury cut his career short.
Redondo went more than two years without playing and the rehabilitation was more like torture.
The Argentine midfielder looked back on his ordeal years later.
"Florentino had committed to bringing Figo in during his campaign; he cost a lot of money and Milan offered 18 million euros for me. It was a lot of money for a 31-year-old player. They told me that the club wanted to accept it."
"I had a little bit of a hunch that they wanted to sell me. On the other hand, it was Milan and [Silvio] Berlusconi who called me to go."
"I broke the cruciate in my right knee and couldn't play a single game for two years. That is: I went to Milan and the first game I couldn’t play for two years. A madness."
"They would put me in the operating room, put my leg up, drain it of blood with a tourniquet and give me drugs. The risk was that if any of it went to my heart, I might have a problem."
"I was also taken to Knokke, a summer town in northern Belgium. But in winter! I would go into the North Sea and run with the water up to my waist!"
"At Milanello we were training and suddenly cars started arriving with tinted windows, a helicopter... Berlusconi would come down, greet us and give a kind of technical talk."