Bayern Munich winger Arjen Robben has revealed he once spurned the advances of Juventus -- with a text message.
#INSERT
type:image
caption:Arjen Robben turned down a move to Juventus in 2012, then helped knock them out of the Champions League in 2013.
END#
• Robben refutes diving claim
• Schaaf: Another record broken
The Dutchman claims he was close to joining the Bianconeri in 2012, but opted to stay with Bayern.
Robben went on to win a Treble of Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and Champions League titles -- scoring the winning goal against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley.
"It wasn't down to Juve, it's just I was happy with Bayern, like I am now, and that's why the transfer didn't go through," Robben told La Gazzetta dello Sport. "Juve are a fantastic club and when a club like them shown an interest, it's an honour.
"I was very clear with them and sent them a text message to thank them and show that I'd appreciated their interest. I said I was honoured, but that I wanted to stay at Bayern. They told me that the door would always be open for me.
“Other Italian clubs were interested me in the past -- some big ones -- but I was always happy where I was."
Robben is still happy with Bayern and has been in some of the best form of his career under Pep Guardiola this season, scoring 10 goals in the Bundesliga and three in the Champions League.
"I had a good feeling as soon as I met him," said Robben, who explained the differences between the Catalan and Jose Mourinho, who he worked under at Chelsea.
"They're completely different, yet at the same time, they're very similar. They have different philosophies of football and work in different ways, but they are both 100 percent winners. Tactically, they are probably the best in the business -- they both breathe football, thinking night and day about the games.
"I had the privilege of working under many great coaches: [Louis] Van Gaal, who's now coach of Holland, [Jupp] Heynckes at Bayern and [Guus] Hiddink at PSV."