Former Tottenham Hotspur defender Pascal Chimbonda believes he scuppered any hopes of a 'dream' move to Manchester United by handing in a transfer request at Wigan Athletic.
The Frenchman had emerged as one of the Premier League's leading right-backs at Wigan, attracting interest from a host of top clubs.
Having arrived in the Premier League for a modest fee of 500K, Chimbonda pipped the likes of Gary Neville to a place in the PFA Team of the Season, as admirers began to grow.
A number of clubs, including Manchester United United, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham, were all credited with an interest but Chimbonda took action on the final day of the 2005/06 campaign to attempt to push through a switch.
That, in his words, is the 'biggest regret' of his career and one that possibly cost him a move to Old Trafford.
After the final whistle blew at Highbury following Wigan's 4-2 defeat to Arsenal, he handed in a transfer request in the dressing room.
"That’s my biggest regret. That changed a lot of things," Chimbonda told The Athletic. "Wigan were so mad. They didn’t say anything to me.
"At the end of the game I gave a written letter to the manager in the dressing room, and he opened it in front of everyone. I wasn’t even showered yet.
"The chairman was there too and I thought ‘what have I done?’ What a stupid thing to do.
"We were supposed to meet on Monday, but I was told the manager doesn’t want to see you. Just go on holiday.
"That’s my big regret. If I could go back in time, I wouldn’t do this.
“If I didn’t do what I did then maybe I would have joined Manchester United.
"But when I made this mistake, I threw my chance away. Man United didn’t want to sign someone who would do this.”
