Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has admitted that he spoke to big names like Luka Modric and Thiago Alcantara about joining the club while it was still on the books at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils would have done well to sign someone like Modric or Thiago over the years, but instead they brought flops like Marouane Fellaini and Shinji Kagawa the moment they moved on.
Speaking on Vibe with Five, Ferdinand recalls that he was ‘Agent Rio’ back in his playing days, always trying to reach out to players if he knew they were available.
It seems that Modric could have been a real possibility, as the Croatian international reportedly told Ferdinand that he would have liked to move to Old Trafford, although it didn’t work out and he moved to Real Madrid.
“I spoke to him before he went to Real Madrid, because that’s what he used to do, he was the player’s agent, he was Rio’s agent before I retired,” Ferdinand said.
“Any player that was available or that was coming, I used to think that I could somehow get into them.
“Even Thiago Alcántara at Liverpool, I spoke to him before he left Barcelona to go to Bayern Munich and that almost happened but we signed [Marouane] Fellaini instead.
“But Modric, I remember that I spoke to him, I told him: ‘Are you leaving? [Tottenham]?” and he said, “Yeah, I think I’ll go,” but he wasn’t sure at the time where he was going.
“I told him: ‘Listen, you have to come to United, man’ and he said: ‘Yeah, listen, I want to be the first Croat to play for Man United, I want to be that guy, can we do that?”
“But it didn’t happen. I spoke to David Gill and the manager [Sir Alex] at that time I had already met Shinji Kagawa I think it was – I think that was the year, I’m sure it was.
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“Or they already had the irons in the fire with another player and they made that deal and then Modric went to Madrid and the rest is history.
“But I never imagined that he would continue to do what he has done. What a player!”
The Croatian veteran has had an incredible career, winning the Champions League five times with Madrid, winning the Ballon d’Or in 2018 and reaching back-to-back World Cup semi-finals.
