Back in 2002, the Brazilian midfielder was wanted by Los Blancos but he perfectly realized he could become the next Luis Figo.
He says he would have made a fearsome duo with Ronaldo Nazario at Madrid but the move never happened.
“I would never have turned down Real Madrid just because I played for Barcelona, even though I have a great relationship with Barcelona and they will always be my club in Europe,” Rivaldo confessed to Betfair.

“I know perfectly well that if I had signed for Real Madrid, it would have been a similar case to that of Figo, but in the end, it didn’t happen.”
The Brazilian great mentioned the potential transfer as he spoke of his great partnership with Ronaldo Nazario, saying they would have made a ‘fearsome duo’ at Real Madrid.

Rivaldo continued: “We already showed it when we played with Brazil. To have more time to develop that chemistry we had at club level would have made us even more lethal. Defences would have feared us, no matter which team we played for.

“That summer [of 2002] Ronaldo signed for Real Madrid after Los Blancos took an interest in me, so if we had managed to join together, it would have been incredible.”