‘I turned down Real Madrid for Arsenal – it was the best decision I ever made’

After a standout season with Mallorca, Lauren received a wealth of interest from the likes of Real Madrid and Roma, but he ultimately decided to make the move to Highbury under Arsene Wenger

Laureano Bisan-Etame Mayer has confessed that snubbing Real Madrid in favour of Arsenal was the best choice he ever made in his career.

Better known by ‘Lauren’, the 47-year-old right-back broke through at Utrera in 1995 before making the move to Sevilla’s B team, Levante and Mallorca. A breakthrough season in the latter attracted a wealth of interest from the likes of Real Madrid and Roma, but the Cameroonian ultimately decided to make the switch to Arsenal in a £500,000 deal in the summer of 2000.

Speaking to the Daily Mail in 2020 about why he decided to snub the Bernabeu in favour of Highbury, cult hero Lauren explained: “My representative came to Madrid, met Juan Onieva [the vice-president] and they didn’t reach an agreement because the economic conditions that Madrid offered didn’t convince us.

“We got on a flight and went straight to London, because there had been contact with Arsenal before. When we arrived we went straight to David Dein’s [Vice-chairman at the time] house. It was David Dein, his daughter – who spoke Spanish – Arsene Wenger, me, my representative, and a translator who we had brought with us because my English was non-existent.

“What really struck me was that I had always negotiated in an office with everyone very serious, wearing suits and ties. This was totally different. David Dein opens his home to you. His personality was spectacular, the treatment man to man was fantastic and I left there totally convinced.

“And Wenger, with that human warmth he has, that approachable character of his. During negotiations he didn’t speak too much; he listens to you, watches you, he’s seeing if you have the personality to be able to take on this challenge.”

Lauren also explained that despite being a Madrid fan in his youth, he explained that Arsenal offered a little more flexibility in terms of how he would be able to play.

He continued: “At Madrid it was like you had to do what they said: this is the way it is, full stop. My dad is a Madrid fan, I was always a Sevilla fan and then Madrid as well, but when another club comes along with another attitude however much you might have liked Madrid, you go to the place where they treat you best and where they offer you the best terms.

“The way that Dein and Wenger acted struck us. It wasn’t come to the club, it was come to my house. Come to be with my family, in my home. Come to join us.”

When asked if choosing Arsenal over Real Madrid was the best choice he’d ever made in his career, the full-back added: “Totally, without doubt. Playing with the best players, at an institution like Arsenal, in England, and with the man who, for me, was the best manager a young player could have.”

While playing alongside the likes of Iker Casillas, Fernando Hierro, Roberto Carlos, Luis Figo and Raul Gonzalez may have had its benefits, it seems as though Lauren made the right decision by choosing the Gunners over the Galacticos.

The right-back lifted two Premier League titles under Wenger, and was an imperative part of his 2003/04 ‘Invincibles’ team which won the league without suffering a single defeat – featuring in 32 games for the Gunners that season. The footballer also lifted three FA Cups and two Community Shields with Arsenal before transferring to Portsmouth in 2007. He retired in 2010 following a couple of months with Cordoba.

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