Arsenal legend Bergkamp regrets joining Inter instead of Barcelona
Asked on whether Johan Cruyff tried to persuade him not to join Inter, Bergamp replied:
“He never said it in so many words, but he wanted me to join him at Barcelona. He kept telling me all the teams not to go to, leaving Barcelona as the only one left! I always had the feeling I'd go to Italy, the biggest league at the time. I didn't want to go to Milan because Gullit, Van Basten and Rijkaard had gone there. It came down to Juventus or Inter. We had a better feeling from the people at Inter. They made a lot of promises – which I found out later was something they did a lot. They said: "We're going to play more offensive." They did, but only for the first month! It wasn't what I'd hoped for. But Italy was good for my development. I learned to be more professional, learned to play against two or three defenders, and to play with players who are there for themselves rather than for the team.”