The former player recalled how at the beginning of his career, when he was just starting to shine at UD Las Palmas, he met with Carles Rexach, then Barcelona’s sporting director, to discuss a possible move to Barcelona. Guayre explained that he was offered to receive black money while he continued his development and then sign for the ‘Cules’ for free.
Antonio Guayre, a former Spanish international who played for UD Las Palmas, Villarreal, Celta, Numancia and Lugo, recalled his frustrated move to Barcelona when he was just starting his career. Surprisingly, the former player born in Las Palmas revealed in the podcast ‘Curios@s’ that the Catalan team even offered him money in black to secure his signing.
“I was not yet ready to play for Barca, but I was already attracting attention. I went to lunch with Carles Rexach, who was the sporting director, and he told me: ‘We’re going to give you money under the table, you’re from a humble family’. Just like that. We were seeing how to do it and they told us: ‘We want you to stay there in Las Palmas training and while we give you money under the table, and when you are ready you come here for free,’” explained the player in the aforementioned program.
The ex-footballer, who made it to the Spanish national team after having a great period at Villarreal, explained that the signing was frustrated precisely because of the appearance of the Yellow Submarine, which paid 6 million for him.
Guayre recalled that in the best years of his career Barcelona had a second approach to sign him, when he was already at Villarreal: “My agent told me: ‘Barca want to try to sign you again and have asked me about you’. The thing is that there was a kid in the reserve team who was also around…. Messi.
Despite the fact that injuries dampened the end of his career, Guayre went on to make 184 appearances in the top flight, scoring 26 goals. To those numbers he added 4 more goals in 40 matches in the Spanish second tier and a debut in both the Champions League (4 matches and a goal) and the UEFA Cup, a competition in which he accumulated 17 appearances and 4 goals.