Ilkay Gundogan has claimed Real Madrid made an offer to Borussia Dortmund for his services but had their approach rebuffed.
Marca cites a report from Turkey that quote the half-Turkish Germany international as revealing the interest from Los Blancos.
“Real Madrid made an offer for me but my club refused it,” Gundogan said.
“At the time I had two more seasons on my contract. But also, my injury wrecked everything. I couldn’t play for 14 months.”
Gundogan has recently returned from the lengthy lay-off to which he alluded and confirmed he would like to play in Spain one day.
“Now I want to look forward and make up for lost time with sporting success,” he added.
“Playing outside Germany is one of my big goals. If one day I leave here, I’d like to play in Spain or for one of the big teams in England.”