Netherlands icon Clarence Seedorf spent 22-years as a professional footballer, representing clubs like Ajax, Real Madrid, Inter Milan and AC Milan. The 50-year-old now reveals he almost joined Manchester United twice.
Manchester United are no strangers to missing out on transfer targets. The list of players the club has missed out on includes Gabriel Batistuta, Ronaldinho and Gareth Bale, to Wesley Sneijder, Toni Kroos and Cesc Fabregas.
Each of those players has a unique story explaining why a move didn’t materialise. The latest iconic retired footballer to reveal he almost signed for United is Dutch legend Clarence Seedorf.
This means Sir Alex Ferguson was keen to bring Seedorf to Old Trafford.
Which one of these World Cup legends would have been the best signing for Man Utd?
Clarence Seedorf passed on opportunities to sign for Man Utd
Seedorf had an incredible career and will forever be remembered as one of the greats in the football world.
Still the only man to win the Champions League with three clubs (Ajax, Real Madrid and AC Milan), Seedorf won Europe’s most prestigious tournament four times.
The idea that he could have played for United will have many fans wondering how many more trophies Ferguson would have won had he landed his primary targets every summer.
That wasn’t always the case, though, as Seedorf explained in the latest episode of Rio Ferdinand Presents.
Seedorf told former United defender Rio Ferdinand that the only thing he missed out on in his career was playing in England.
“I was almost twice coming to you guys,” Seedorf told Ferdinand when asked why he didn’t sign for a Premier League club.
“In the beginning, in the early years. But then Spain and Italy were the places to be. Then Premier League took off, you know, in terms of the best place we started going to. But I was still at AC Milan at that point. I did 10 years at AC Milan.
“I had Arsenal and Manchester United and Real Madrid. When I went from Sampdoria to Real Madrid, after Madrid, the same thing, more or less.
“And then I went to Inter Milan.”
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Clarence Seedorf snubbed Man Utd to play with Ronaldo at Inter Milan
Ferdinand quizzed Seedorf on his decision to snub United for a second time – to sign for Inter Milan.
Seedorf explained that he wanted to join Inter Milan to play with Brazil legend Ronaldo.
“R9 was playing at Inter,” Seedorf said.
“Lippi, so Lippi, one of the best coaches at that time. He called me, he said, I want you to come and play behind Christian Vieri and Ronaldo.
“I said when and where? I need to present myself.
“I mean, these are moments. And as I said, I think, I mean, if there’s any club in England, most likely the three, because I grew up watching the Premier League, Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal. These were like iconic clubs. And so I would have loved to…”
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