Man Utd agonising transfer miss as Argentina legend lifts lid on crazy five-minute attempt
Manchester United once tried and failed to sign Argentina legend Juan Roman Riquelme in a transfer saga which lasted just five minutes. Riquelme, who is now the president of Boca Juniors, is fondly remembered as one of the greatest playmakers of all time.
The iconic midfielder spent most of his career at Boca Juniors but also played in Europe with Barcelona and Villarreal. He was regularly linked with some of the Premier League's biggest clubs, but nothing materialised and he never ended up playing in England.
United nearly made a move happen in 2006, with Sir Alex Ferguson coming agonisingly close to bringing him to Old Trafford. However, Villarreal made it crystal clear that he was not for sale under any circumstances.
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Reflecting on the saga in an interview with TyC Sports, Riquelme said: "We played the semi-final with Arsenal in England and he [Ferguson] was at the hotel.
"He spoke with the president of Villarreal and there was Daniel [Bolotnicoff], who is my representative. He was there because he had gone to buy me. They finished the meeting and Dani says to me: 'He wants to say hello. He came to buy'.
"Then I say to him: 'What did you tell him?'. And there he answers: 'The sports city, El Madrigal (stadium), is for sale, everything is for sale, except Riquelme'.
"There I told my representative: 'Tell Ferguson that I will never forget these five minutes in my life again, but that if the president doesn’t want to sell me, I’ll stay in Villarreal'. So, I greeted him and I went to have a mate.
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"Then we had to go play the Audi Cup with Boca in Germany and he went to the press conference. He said that It had been true that he wanted to buy me and that every time they go to buy a Manchester United player, they want them to respond like me."
After his retirement in 2015, Riquelme admitted that his only regret in football was not signing for United when they came calling. He gave a slightly different version of events, claiming that he rejected the move himself rather than Villarreal putting a stop to it.
"The only thing I regret in my career was a decision that I took, when at the hotel in England before the semi-final with Arsenal, when Manchester United came to buy me and I said no," Riquelme told Mundo Deportivo.
"I stayed at Villarreal, because I was very comfortable with my team-mates."
Man Utd agonising transfer miss as Argentina legend lifts lid on crazy five-minute attempt
Man Utd agonising transfer miss as Argentina legend lifts lid on crazy five-minute attempt
Man Utd agonising transfer miss as Argentina legend lifts lid on crazy five-minute attempt
Man Utd agonising transfer miss as Argentina legend lifts lid on crazy five-minute attempt
Man Utd agonising transfer miss as Argentina legend lifts lid on crazy five-minute attempt
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