West Ham midfielder Robert Snodgrass has sought to shed some light on reports suggesting that he once turned down the opportunity to take in a trial at Barcelona.
Back in 2005, the tricky winger was busy making a name for himself at Livingston.
Having burst onto the scene with the Scottish side, Snodgrass was a talent very much in demand.
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His potential was noted by clubs throughout England – with Leeds United eventually securing his services – while talk of his ability was said to have spread as far as Spain.
Barcelona were rumoured to have made an approach, during a period in which a young Lionel Messi was starting a make his mark in the first team at Camp Nou.
Snodgrass is claimed to have snubbed an invite from the La Liga giants to spend time training with them, but the 29-year-old Scotland international insists that was never the case.
He said in The Sun: “You’d have to be insane to reject a trial at Barcelona.
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“No-one would turn down a chance like that but I don’t think about what might have been because it never happened.
“Everyone is intrigued by this story. It comes up all the time. But I don’t know how to even begin to explain it.
“I was 17-years-old and playing for Livingston when it was reported that I’d refused to go to the Nou Camp for a trial.
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“I’ve been told that various clubs and agents were involved but I honestly don’t know anything about it.”
Rather than heading for Catalonia, Snodgrass moved to Elland Road in 2008 after a spell on loan at Stirling Albion at the end of the 2006-07 season.
He has since taken in spells at Norwich and Hull City, with a switch to West Ham completed during the 2017 January transfer window.
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