One of the greatest Premier League players of all time has revealed the reason he didn’t join Manchester United.
Back during the Sir Alex Ferguson era, you would struggle to find a better team in world football than Manchester United.
The Red Devils were renowned for acquiring some of the best talent in the world, particularly from the Premier League – where Fergie often poached from other sides, making their squad weaker and Untied’s ultimately stronger.
But some didn’t want to come, for whatever reason. One of these players was West Ham United’s Paulo Di Canio – who has since explained the reason why.
Paulo Di Canio explains United snub
On the latest episode of Up Front with Simon Jordan, the Italian revealed all as to why he never joined United, despite Ferguson’s clear interest. When asked why he never went by Jordan, the forward responded with a simple answer.
“I turned down Sir Alex because I’m West Ham through and through.”
This probably made it even more frustrating for Ferguson, who was a big fan of loyalty in his players.
A grand shame
Di Canio was a phenomenal player. He’s definitely up there with the Premier League’s greatest-ever players.
So it’s really no surprise that Sir Alex Ferguson wanted him at United. This came after Andy Cole was the subject of an approach from Blackburn Rovers, and attracting interest from other Premiership clubs – meaning Fergie was looking to bolster his attack.
But the deal never went through and he stayed at West Ham. He did eventually move to another English club in his latter years, but that was at Charlton just for a season.
Another that got away from United’s grasp – but, to be honest, we didn’t exactly need him.
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
