Jermaine Pennant has revealed he was close to joining Real Madrid but ended up at Portsmouth instead.
The winger was on loan at Portsmouth from Liverpool at the time and was in the last year of his contract.
In 2009, he had played 13 league games for the then Premier League side without scoring a goal and was not offered a new deal by the Reds when he returned.
'When I was at Liverpool, Real Madrid came to sign me in my last year of contract.