Dutch legend Ronald de Boer has revealed why he turned down an offer from Sir Alex Ferguson to join him at Old Trafford.
It was 1999 and Manchester United had just won the unprecedented treble, winning the FA Cup, the Premier League and the Champions League.
After the elation and celebrations had settled, and in typical Ferguson fashion, attention and resources were quickly focused on the upcoming 1999/2000 campaign.
Ferguson has previously stated complacency is a ‘disease’ and therefore it is no surprise that the Scotsman was searching for talent to further bolster his history making side.
And on his radar was Ronald de Boer, an attacking midfielder and a product of the Ajax academy.
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De Boer was a vital component in Ajax’s dominant nineties period, as the Dutch side won three consecutive Eredivisie titles, while also clinching the 1995 Champions League.
De Boer would soon be lured away from home comforts in 1999 with a £22m move to Barcelona to join his former manager, a name familiar with United fans, Louis Van Gaal.
But the prolific midfielder's transfer to the Nou Camp turned from a dream into a nightmare, and de Boer only managed to score one goal in his debut season.
Despite his lack of goals and poor performances Ferguson was pursuing his signature and, talking to talkSPORT , de Boer revealed why he turned down United’s advance:
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“When I went to Rangers I could have also chosen Manchester United,” de Boer said. “People said at the time ‘how could you not choose it?’
“I talked about it with Ferguson and he said ‘we only have two players who always play who are Roy Keane and David Beckham and the rest I rotate a lot. So, you will be with Butt, Scholes and the other guys. You will be rotated but I want you in the team’.
“But I had a little bit of fear over my left knee and if they said, ‘you are not fit enough, and we can’t take you because of your knee’, I would have a stamp on my forehead saying that I was not suitable for football.
“With Rangers I thought I had a better chance going there, with a four-year contract, and I was going to play there for sure,” he added.
With de Boer set for Ibrox and Scotland, United swooped for South African midfielder Quinton Fortune, for a fee of £1.5m from Atlético Madrid, instead.
Eventually Ferguson’s refusal to become complacent was, unsurprisingly, rewarded and United would once again become Premier League champions that season.
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