Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes have been reflecting on when Sir Alex Ferguson got excited about a potential transfer in 2003 before missing out on the target.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s 26-year reign as Manchester United manager proved he could identify talent.
From Peter Schmeichel signing from Brøndby in a £505,000 transfer in 1991 to Denis Irwin costing a mere £625,000 from Oldham a year earlier.
Ferguson knew what he wanted his United team to resemble. His famous sides would have a mixture of players signed in the transfer market, as well as products from United’s academy.
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His other great transfers included Eric Cantona, Roy Keane, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Wayne Rooney.
However, there were many talented players who got away due to a variety of decisions.
There have been multiple players who turned down opportunities to move their careers to Old Trafford, but their potential arrival rarely got Sir Alex Ferguson excited because he would wait until the dotted line was signed.
Sir Alex Ferguson got excited over Ronaldinho transfer in 2003
Former United duo turned podcasters Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt have been reflecting on a potential transfer in 2003 that got Ferguson more excited than most deals he conducted at the club.
Brazil playmaker Ronaldinho had everyone excited when it emerged he would be leaving Paris Saint-Germain.
United failed to seal a deal for Ronaldinho, but just weeks later, they struck gold by signing a teenage prospect named Ronaldo, who would go on to dominate European football.
The saga played out well for everyone. Ronaldinho won everything at Barcelona. Thankfully, the same could be said for Ronaldo at United, but Scholes and Butt have described how excited Ferguson got over being on the verge of signing the Brazilian star.
“When you two were playing, did you ever have a player that close come into your club?” Scholes and Butt were asked on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast.
“Very famous one. Yeah. Ronaldinho,” Scholes said.
“We were going on preseason tour to America. We had to refuel somewhere, yeah, it might be Dallas, or Seattle, somewhere like that, wasn’t it? We had to refuel. But I always remember it, Goose Bay, it was called Goose Bay.
“So the manager came to speak to a few of us, which is very rare.”
But added: “He was excited, wasn’t he? He was excited. He never got like that. I’d never seen him like that when signing a player.”
“And he said, ‘I think we’ve got Ronaldinho done,” Scholes said.
“His agent was his brother as well, so he just kept saying, brother, I think we’re done. And I remember, so you’re on your way to America, you train a few times and you have your first game.
And even then he still thought it was done because he’s in the dressing room, so I think I’ll give him number seven. So it was like, honestly, it was that close.”
“We were excited because he was an amazing talent.”
Man Utd icon Sir Alex Ferguson perfectly captures the ethos of believing in youngsters 🔥👏
Giving young people an opportunity is a fantastic thing and they very seldom let you down. These lads never let me down when they put that jersey on.
Sir Alex Ferguson speaking at the opening of Salford City’s Peninsula Stadium in 2017
Ronaldinho made Barcelona a promise that blocked Man Utd move
In an interview with FourFourTwo magazine in 2015, Ronaldinho revealed how close he was to joining United.
If it wasn’t for a promise made to the incoming Barcelona president, Sandro Rosell, Ronaldinho would have been a Red.
“It almost happened with United,” Ronaldinho said.
“It was a matter of 48 hours, but Sandro Rosell had told me way before I got the offer: ‘If I become Barca president, will you come?’
“I said yes. It was only a matter of details with United when Rosell called to say he was going to win the election there. And I had promised to him that I’d play for Barca.”
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