Real Salt Lake striker Giuseppe Rossi has spoken of how close he came close to signing for Barcelona earlier in his career.

Rossi joined the MLS club as a free agent after recovering from knee injury.

"The 2010/11 season with Villarreal was extraordinary," Rossi told Sky Sports.

"I was the best after [Lionel] Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo and I was attracting interest from Barcelona.

"The contract was established but there were disagreements between the clubs over payment: Villarreal wanted the fixed part to be bigger than the bonus and Barcelona wanted the opposite.

"As soon as Barcelona understood what Villarreal wanted, they changed their objectives and I didn't end up going."

The Italian also revealed that there was interest from clubs back home too.

"When [Antonio] Conte arrived at Juventus, I was really close to going there, but Villarreal told me that they were only selling [Santi] Cazorla and couldn't let me go too," Rossi said.