Legendary Romanian midfielder Gheorghe Hagi has revealed he was close to replacing Diego Maradona at Napoli, before finalising a move to Barcelona.
The 50-year-old, who is now the coach of Romanian side FC Viitorul Constan?a, previously spent two seasons at Brescia, where he helped the side win promotion into the Serie A from the Serie B after being demoted the season prior.
And Hagi has now claimed that although he regrets the breakdown in a possible move to Napoli at the time, he is thankful for his opportunity to represent the Blaugrana.
“I am still angry with Brescia. I can say now, after many years, that I received an offer from Napoli to be the heir to Maradona,” Hagi told Radio Crc.
“The Argentine was gone and I would have become the new Diego [Maradona], but Brescia did not accept the offer.
“My idol, [Johan] Cruyff was the coach,” Hagi said. “I was in America for the World Cup and he called to convince me to play for Barcelona.
“There was no need though. It was a dream for me, as I loved his Holland team.
In addition, Hagi hailed Napoli’s signing of Vlad Chiriches, claiming that the 25-year-old is the best defender Romania has seen in the past decade.
Prior to his transfer, the centre-half spent two seasons at Tottenham Hotspur, where he made just 27 Premier League appearances.
“Chiriches is the best Romanian defender of the last 10 years, after Cristian Chivu,” Hagi continued.
“He can defend well and build the game from the back. I think he can play alone or with either Raul Albiol or Kalidou Koulibaly.”
