A decade ago, a 16-year-old Federico Valverde hoped to be picked up by Arsene Wenger's Arsenal.

The Uruguayan was invited to a trial by the Gunners, but ultimately wasn't recruited.

Now, Valverde is a key part of a Real Madrid squad that currently holds the Champions League trophy. But he looks back at that time with fondness.

During a recent interview with Spanish publication Marca, Valverde opened up on what could have been.

"I was 16," recalled Valverde. "I said: 'That's it. This is my club. I'm going to grow here.

"In Uruguay, the Premier League was watched a lot. I imagined a future there.

"I enjoyed it and I trained with spectacular players."

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Valverde went on to namedrop former Arsenal reserve goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez as one of his biggest allies during that trial.

"I don't know if he'll remember me, but Dibu [Martinez] was one of the ones who helped me the most in everything," admitted the midfielder, "along with [Hector] Bellerín, Alexis [Sanchez] and [Santi] Cazorla.

"I didn't know English and they had to explain all the work to me."

Like Valverde, Martinez's career has gone from strength to strength since those days.

Now at Aston Villa, the Argentine has won two consecutive Yashin Awards in 2023 and 2024 -- an accolade awarded by France Football to recognise the best performing goalkeeper in the world each calendar year.