After initially going elsewhere, the Costa Rican claims that the QPR refusal opened the door to joining Derby County.

The Costa Rican first came to Europe when Derby County signed him in 1997 when they were in the Premier League,

when QPR was in the second division. He also had stints at West Ham United and Manchester City,

the latter of which will play Real Madrid in the Champions League play-off at the Etihad on Tuesday.

AS spoke with the 48-year-old ahead of the major European match, and he opened up about how

he got noticed by the English team and his experiences at both QPR and Derby County.

Wanchope’s outstanding national team performances had drawn interest from Europe, particularly from OGC Nice.

The former striker was originally going to France, but he ended up at Derby County in part because

QPR refused to sign him. “I made my national team debut when I was 19 years old, and in one of the games

against the United States there was a former English player, from Arsenal, who lived in Los Angeles and

was watching the game on television,” he said. “I caught his eye. He saw potential, he thought I had everything to play in Europe.

I was initially going to Nice, because the owner was a friend of his. However, something happened,

and I ended up in England for a trial with QPR.