When it comes to Manchester United transfer rumors during the Louis van Gaal and David Moyes eras, Arjen Robben was a name that consistently came up. Although the Dutchman was obviously a highly valued target of Old Trafford, the move obviously never materialized. The stellar winger stayed put at Bayern Munich, but he did almost join United…a decade prior.
In the May issue of Four Four Two magazine, Arjen Robben reveals how he even once had dinner with United legend of legends Sir Alex Ferguson, and toured the United training ground.
Robben, then with PSV Eindhoven, says that he was so impressed with the experience that he would have signed with the Red Devils right there and then, had they made an offer. However, no offer was made and Robben went on to join Chelsea instead in the summer of 2004. At Stamford Bridge, he won two Premier League titles under current United manager Jose Mourinho, and then later moved on to Real Madrid.
“I had a very good conversation with [Ferguson] over dinner in Manchester and we spoke about football and life,” Robben said in the interview.
“I also went and had a good look around the training ground and everything was good.”
“I had a very good conversation with Ferguson over dinner and we spoke about football and life. Had Manchester United offered me a deal straight after I met them, I would have signed. But after I went back to PSV nothing happened. There was no real contact and the deal didn’t happen.
“PSV were also negotiating with Chelsea at that time, so maybe they offered PSV more money? I don’t really know.”
“I spoke to Chelsea and I liked their plans. We had one meeting and everything was done pretty quickly. Had Manchester United offered me a deal straight after I met them, I would have signed there, but it didn’t happen and I’ve got no regrets.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune corporation blogging community Chicago Now.
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