Any club, no matter how behemoth, can be forced to feel the sting of rejection. One said yes, Gvardiol, and one said no: Jude the dude. Big ripples in the pond. Seduced by the chance to write his own name in that history. To the player's detriment, I think. To change culture and language and climate, to play in the most hot-house, political, quixotic club in the world, to not only cope but to, within weeks, become one of the two or three most important, most relied-upon footballers at Real Madrid -- that is an inordinate achievement. It's his total, head-over-heels mutual love affair with the Madrid support, it's his vision, his ambition, his self-belief, it's the fun he brings to football and it's the fact that he oozes charm, wit and enjoyment when he interacts with the media. But his fury can't be all-consuming to the point that it's distracting. One against the reigning champions, one which would, with any old type of victory, would put Los Blancos in the semifinals [again] and one which would allow him to shake hands with Guardiola, look him in the eye and say: "Sorry to turn you down Pep but, look at what you missed out on!But whether or not he's got the right stuff to put City out and Madrid through, this will remain an absolutely extraordinary season for the Englishman abroad.
