Danilo has revealed that he turned down Premier League champions Chelsea ahead of sealing his move to Manchester City from Real Madrid.
The Brazilian right-back completed a £26.9m switch from the Bernabeu earlier this week to become Pep Guardiola's fifth summer signing.
Danilo says that he also had the chance to join Chelsea or stay at Real Madrid, but the lure of working under the former Barcelona boss was too good to refuse.
"It wasn't a difficult decision to choose City over Chelsea," he is quoted as saying by Sky Sports News. "The moment City called me and Pep called me, I knew what I had to do. Pep's words motivated me to be ready for this.
"It was very fast. I was training with Real Madrid and Pep called me and I was very motivated to make this change and start to work with him. Zidane tried to make me stay but I was sure I needed to change. I needed to think a bit more about myself and find a place where I had more options."
Signed from Porto in 2015, Danilo enjoyed two fruitful seasons with Real, winning two Champions Leagues and ending the club's five-year wait to be crowned La Liga champions last term.