Barcelona continue to prepare for the 2025/26 season with hopes high both in the dressing room and among fans.
The club’s pre-season has been a mixture of impressive talent development and tactical sharpening under new leadership.
New signings are being integrated gradually, while the likes of Robert Lewandowski and Pedri are setting the tone for what La Blaugrana hopes will be a successful campaign.
As focus turns to both La Liga and European aspirations, the club’s historic pull continues to capture the attention of players past and present.
This week, that influence was highlighted once more as a Dutch icon and former Manchester United star opened up about a dream move that never materialised.
Robin van Persie, one of the most iconic Dutch forwards of the modern era, has revealed he once dreamed of playing for FC Barcelona.
Now the coach of Feyenoord, Robin van Persie made the confession in a recent interview with SPORT, where he said: “I always had the desire to play for Barca one day. I truly hoped it might somehow come true.
“It was a real dream for me.”
The former Manchester United and Arsenal striker came close to realising that dream in 2015, just months after joining Turkish side Fenerbahce.
According to Van Persie, conversations were taking place behind the scenes and his agent even believed the move could become reality: “After half a year at Fenerbahce, there was talk of it at the time, and I had high hopes.
“It would’ve been incredible. My agent told me there were conversations, that the option was real—but then he called and said, ‘It’s not going to happen.’”
His agent later revealed that Van Persie’s physical condition was a concern for the Catalan club, especially given he was coming from the Turkish league rather than directly from Manchester United.
“If he had stayed a little longer at United instead of going to Fenerbahce, he would’ve been a serious option… but Barcelona had doubts about his physical fitness,” he explained.
Ultimately, the move never came to be.
Still, Van Persie’s admiration for the club echoes a broader truth—Barcelona’s global reputation continues to make it a dream destination, one that even legends sometimes just miss out on.
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