Paul Scholes revealed his “biggest regret in football” that involved a meeting with former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
Although Paul Scholes initially retired in May 2011, the former Manchester United midfielder reversed his decision and returned to playing in January 2012.
Scholes hung up his boots for the last time in May 2013, at the age of 38, playing his final game in a 5-5 draw against West Brom, which was also Sir Alex Ferguson’s final match as manager.
Since then, Scholes has been involved in punditry and coaching. The England international became a well-known television pundit, offering analysis on Premier League and European matches.
Scholes also held managerial roles for short periods at Oldham Athletic and Salford City.
Paul Scholes opens up on Inter Milan proposal
United legend Scholes spent his entire career at Old Trafford, making 716 appearances and recording 237 goal contributions.
The 50-year-old will be forever remembered as one of the greatest midfielders to graduate from United’s academy.
Scholes appears on the latest episode of the Stick To Football podcast as Gary Neville quizzed him about transfer rumours that saw him linked with a move to Serie A giants Inter Milan.
Admired across Europe, Scholes was 25 years old when Inter Milan attempted to lure him to Italy. He revealed that Inter made a proposal through Ryan Giggs’ agent, Harry Swales, and wanted to offer £4 million a year, which was more than what he was earning at United.
“I was 25, yeah,” Scholes said. “Inter Milan wanted to give me £4 million a year, tax-free. Back then, that was massive. It was probably more than double what I was on at United.
“I remember seeing it on the back of the paper: £30 million to Inter Milan or something. But I never heard anything about it again. It just vanished.”
This led to Scholes making the ‘biggest regret’ of his career because he went to Ferguson’s office to request more money.
“I actually still put up the courage, I thought, I’m still going to go,” he added. “I think I said something like, I think I deserve more money, or I want to be on more money. What am I doing? Just looking at him.
“He pulled out that little black book he always had. You remember the little black book he has? So, he’s flicking through the pages for like five minutes. ‘No, I think you’re all right. I think you’re level with everyone. It’s fine.’ That was it. ‘I think what you’re on is good, yeah. All right, thanks. See you later.’ Jeez. That is the worst. That’s my biggest regret in football, doing that.”
Former Inter president admitted Paul Scholes transfer pursuit
Massimo Moratti was Inter president at the time and he later admitted that the Italian club worked hard to sign Scholes from United.
Moratti claims Inter offered United a blank cheque, but they were unable to strike an agreement with the club or the player.
“We tried really hard to sign Paul Scholes, we even gave Manchester United a blank cheque,” Moratti was quoted, as cited by talkSPORT.
“We spoke to him, but his reply was short and simple: ‘If you want me to play for you, you would have to buy this club.’‘
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