The best Macedonian footballer to date, Darko Panchev, still regrets choosing Inter over Real Madrid back in 1992.

Although 20 years have passed since Darko left the then world champions Crvena Zvezda to join Inter, he still regrets the decision to this day.

“President Mendoza was coming to Belgrade two times to negotiate my transfer to Real Madrid.  But, I chose Inter and that turned to be the biggest mistake of my life.  People make mistakes, I made one by not signing for Real Madrid.  I would have played with Butragueño, Michel… Real Madrid was world class.” said Panchev while commenting during the recent EURO 2012 game between Spain and Italy on the national television channel MTV.

It’s not the first time for Panchev to regret his move to Inter as his career took a huge downfall after he moved to Italy.  He came in the city of Milano as a star player, having won the European Cup and the Intercontinental Cup with Crvena Zvezda in 1991, and was also the European Top Goalscorer in the 1990/91 season.  In his three years with Inter, Darko collected just 19 appearances with 3 goals.

Several years ago, Panchev made similar comments: “Signing for Inter was my greatest football mistake.  In 1992, I was the best striker in Europe.  I could have gone anywhere I wanted: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United.  My career would have been much more rewarding, in both football and financial terms, if I did.  However, I was not the only one whose career was ruined at Inter.  Think of Wim Jonk, Matthias Sammer and Igor Shalimov.  Also, Dennis Bergkamp left after two years, and he needed a year in England to find himself again.”