Martin Montoya has revealed how he came very close to joining Manchester United as a youth player when he was coming through the Barcelona system.
mundo deportivo cover quote Today we hear from the 34-year-old and how he followed almost the same path as Gerard Pique, who moved to Old Trafford, and Cesc Fabregas, who moved to Arsenal.
Barcelona’s youth were targeted
Martín Montoya was a product of Barcelona’s famous La Masia academy and made 67 appearances for the first team, as well as 75 appearances for the club’s B team.
Despite serving primarily as a backup to Dani Alves, he was also a major honor winner at the Camp Nou, with three La Liga titles, two Copa del Rey titles, a Champions League and a Supercopa de España.
However his career could have been very different. This is because Manchester United called him when he was young.
“I was very close to Manchester United,” he told journalist Rodrigo Rei.
“When I was young, I was close to playing for Manchester United. They came to offer me a contract, like they did with Cesc Fabregas and Pique.
“They offered you to spend four years in England, but at the time I didn’t want to do that. My dream was to play for Barcelona. For me, United is the biggest team in the Premier League.”
Interestingly, Montoya will play alongside both Pique and Fabregas for Barcelona. This, at least, justified the decision for all three.
brighton mantra
Montoya eventually reached England when he joined Brighton on a €7m deal in 2018. He spent two years with the Seagulls and made 56 appearances in total.
This saw him matched with Alexis McAllister. He is currently at Liverpool but reports in England have linked him with a potential shock move this summer. Montoya, for his part, is a fan.
“I spent six months with him; he came and then took a loan and went to Boca,” He said.
“Really a fantastic player, although at the time we didn’t think he would reach the level he is now. He was very young, barely spoke English, but as a person he is a star and as a footballer, he is performing brilliantly and has a huge future.”
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➡️The formula confirms this @Kaus_Pandey17 There is interest from Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United
➕ Defender tempted to move to Premier League
➡️ Summer decision will depend on the proposed projecthttps://t.co/2VZ2ljcDv7 #afc #lfc #afc– Sports Witness (@Sport_Witness) 25 March 2026
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