New Atletico Madrid defender David Hancko has claimed that he started training with Cristiano Ronaldo at Al-Nassr before calling off the move. He said that the Saudi Pro League club dragged the final stage of the move, which forced him to rethink about the decision to join them.
In an interaction with Flash Score, Hanko said that Al-Nassr had a deal in place with Feyenoord when he joined Jorge Jesus' training camp. Hanko said that the Saudi side was taking extra time and keeping him away from final discussions, which gave him alert that something was going in the right direction.
According to David Hancko, the decision to contact Atletico Madrid after having a discussion with his agent, and the Spanish club agreed a deal. He said:
"Everything was already agreed between the clubs and with us. I joined the (Cristiano Ronaldo and Al-Nassr) team at a training camp, and then things started to drag on. It felt strange; they were communicating with my agent and didn’t want me to come personally. That’s when I sensed things weren’t moving in the right direction. More excuses came from their side."
"My agent had built a good relationship with Atletico’s sporting director. We let them know the situation, that things weren’t progressing smoothly and that if Atletico worked out a deal with Feyenoord, we were ready to fly immediately. That sparked a reaction with them and it was all sorted within a day and a half."
Hanko was happy with Atletico Madrid pushing to sign him and added:
"They really wanted to sign me and did everything we’d hoped they would - last year, in winter, or this summer. In the end, they managed it within a day and a half. I always felt I wanted to stay in Europe, and I believe fate played a role, that it was meant to happen this way."
"Even though the whole week wasn’t easy, I lost about three kilos because I slept little and spent most of the time in the hotel lobby, just sitting, waiting, and trying to keep everything in perspective. My wife Kristýnka was a huge support, helping me through it, and I kept reminding myself that in the end, it’s “just” football, even though it affected family life by deciding where and how we’d live."
Days after Hancko's deal went off, Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr signed Inigo Martinez. The Barca star joined on a free transfer after activating a clause in his contract.