"Isco almost signed for Sabadell for €1,800 a month"

The former Head Scout at Málaga, Manel Benavente, has returned to Barcelona after two years working with the youth set-up at Málaga, and on the eve of Bernd Schuster's side's visit to the Bernabéu it seemed like a good time to talk to him.

He says "Málaga won the lottery with the sheikh but did not go and cash in its ticket. Everything was in place for the club to make the big jump into Europe's elite and stay there - which is the most difficult part". But according to Benavente, things quickly went wrong and Sheikh Al-Thani soon tired of all the problems.

P: Tomorrow is the first game against Málaga for Isco. Tell us how you nearly took him to Sabadell...
R: Yes for just €1,800 a month, 12 times a year! It was the 2009-2010 season when I was with Sabadell and I knew the lad was playing for Valencia's B team in the third division. Things were not going great for him, Unai Emery was not playing him, so I spoke to his agent and we closed a deal for that wage. Then they had second thoughts and Isco decided to stay at Valencia.

P: Isco ended up at the Santiago Bernabéu. Málaga paid six million for him and sold him for a lot more.
P: Look, if the Málaga project had continued and Cazorla hadn't gone to Arsenal, Isco would not have had the chance he got last season because they quite simply had to play him.

P: Do you think Isco will fulfill the potential he appears to have?
R: He still has to grow up a bit - we are talking about the Bernabéu... It would have been good for him if Özil had stayed, for me he was more an ally for Isco and not his rival.