Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has admitted he spoke to big names like Luka Modric and Thiago Alcantara about joining the club back when he was still on the books at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils could have done with signing someone like Modric or Thiago down the years, but instead brought in flops like Marouane Fellaini and Shinji Kagawa at around the time they moved.
Speaking on Vibe with Five, Ferdinand recalls that he was ‘agent Rio’ back in his playing days, and that he would always be trying to approach players if he knew they were available.
It seems Modric could have been a real possibility, with the Croatia international supposedly telling Ferdinand he’d have welcomed the move to Old Trafford, though it didn’t work out and he moved to Real Madrid instead.
“I spoke to him before he went to Real Madrid, because that’s what I used to do, I was the player agent, I was agent Rio before I retired,” Ferdinand said.
“Any player that was available or was coming up I used to think that I could somehow get into them.
“Even Thiago Alcantara 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 speaking to him, I said, “Are you leaving [Tottenham]?” and he said, “Yeah, I think I’m going to go” but he wasn’t sure at the time where he was going.
“I said, “Listen, you’ve got to come to United, man” and he said, “Yeah, listen, I want to be the first Croatian to play for Man United, I want to be that guy, can we make it happen?”
“But it didn’t happen. I spoke to David Gill and the manager [Sir Alex] at the time had already agreed with Shinji Kagawa I think it was – I think that was the year, I’m sure it was.
“Or they already had irons in the fire with another player and they did that deal and then Modric went to Madrid and the rest is history.
“But I never imaged he’d go on to do what he’s done. What a player!”
The veteran Croatian has had an incredible career, winning the Champions League five times with Madrid, being crowned the Ballon d’Or in 2018 and making back-to-back World Cup semi-finals.