E101 - THE FIGO - affair the transfer that changed football (Documentary)

<p><br></p><p><b>Luis Figo, Barcelona and Real Madrid: Football’s wildest transfer saga</b></p><p>On July 15, 2000, Luis Figo picked up his phone and asked a journalist for a favour.</p><p>Barcelona’s brightest star then invited a Catalan reporter to join his family holiday in Sardinia so he could articulate his thoughts amid the growing speculation that rivals Real Madrid would attempt to sign him. The interview ended up with an explosive front cover.</p><p>“No to Real Madrid” and “I am only going to play for Barca” were the headlines.</p><p>Nine days later, the Portugal winger, then 27, was posing in Spain’s capital with a Real Madrid shirt, next to freshly-elected president Florentino Perez and club legend Alfredo Di Stefano.</p><p>This was the end of arguably the wildest transfer saga the football industry has ever seen.</p><p>It was a tremendous battle of narratives and media pressure with the aim of achieving power and recognition. It was also the move that introduced Perez to the football world, produced the first “galactico” and created a wound that will never heal in Barcelona. It hurt feelings and boosted egos to the extent that, more than two decades on, Netflix have dissected it in a documentary, The Figo Affair</p><p><br></p><p>It’s been 22 years now, after all. That’s probably enough time for Figo, his agent Jose Veiga, former footballer and intermediary Paulo Futre and Perez to speak out about it. They are some of the main voices that examine the ignition of the conspiracy and every plot twist and coup behind the scenes as Figo went from being adored to Barcelona’s worst public enemy.</p><p>“Getting Figo on board was a tough and slow process,” says the documentary’s co-director, David Tryhorn. “Eventually, as we were doing the interviews with him, it was about convincing him to open up about the transfer. Whether he truly opens up… I’m not 100 per cent sure he does, but he was unbelievably helpful. He was the guy that enabled us to get Florentino, and put us in touch with Jose Veiga and Pa