Alex Ferguson reveals 7 players he almost signed for Manchester United
In former Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson's new book, "Leading," he provides insights and observations from a trophy-laden managerial career that spanned over four decades.
As well as revealing an agreement that no player was to be paid more than him at Old Trafford, and stating that he only had four world-class players during his 26 years as United gaffer, he also disclosed details of deals for some of the best players of the past 20 years that fell through while he was in charge.
Here are, in Ferguson's words, the seven players that got away:
Sergio Aguero
Where he ended up: Manchester City
We had a chance to buy Sergio Aguero before he went to Manchester City, but eventually his agent was demanding a price we were not prepared to pay.
Lucas Moura
Where he ended up: Paris Saint-Germain
We offered £24 million for him, which was upped to £30 million and again to £35 million, but Paris Saint-Germain signed him for £45 million. (Former chief executive) David (Gill) and I were just not prepared to go to those sorts of levels.
Didier Drogba
Where he ended up: Chelsea
He was playing for Olympique de Marseilles and we went to check him out. But the club wanted £25 million for him and Chelsea moved in for the kill before we made up our minds.
Petr Cech
Where he ended up: Chelsea
In 2003 I went to see Petr Cech in goal for Rennes in a game against Auxerre. We thought Petr was a bit young for the bruisers in the Premier League.
Thomas Muller
Where he ended up: Bayern Munich
Thomas Muller, who scored five goals for Germany in the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, was a 10-year-old playing for an amateur team several miles from Munich when we first heard about him. We had him watched and the following day he committed himself to Bayern Munich.
Raphael Varane
Where he ended up: Real Madrid
David Gill was getting into the finer points of the contract with Lens, (Raphael) Varane's club, when Zinedine Zidane got wind of this and somehow scooped him up for Real Madrid from under our noses. I don’t think Jose Mourinho, who was managing Real Madrid, had even seen Varane play.
Ronaldo
Where he ended up: PSV Eindhoven
We wanted to sign (Ronaldo) from Cruzeiro in 1994, but we could not get a work permit.
Despite missing out on these stars, Ferguson is keen to point out that his transfer market mishaps don't compare to some of those at other clubs.
SAF: "Even my very worst are not in the same postal code as some of the biggest blunders in the PL. Such as £50m that CFC paid for Torres."
— Rahul Singh (@forevruntd) September 22, 2015
- With h/t to the Daily Mail