Sir Alex Ferguson has set the record straight regarding Manchester United 's supposedly failed attempts to sign Wesley Sneijder during the Dutch midfielder's prime years.
Unfortunate to miss out on the Ballon d'Or in 2010, the former Real Madrid and Inter Milan playmaker was constantly linked with a move to Old Trafford through Ferguson's final years in charge.
A running gag among the fan base during transfer windows, his name has become synonymous with the Red Devils and recruitment rumours, along with the likes of Nicolas Gaitan.
On an episode of the club's official podcast, Ferguson has cleared up talk of United being interested in Sneijder, who helped Jose Mourinho's Inter to a historic treble in 2009-10, and says there was never any validity to the persistent speculation.
"That's come up a lot of times but we were never interested in Sneijder," he said when asked about players who were heavily linked with a switch but never transferred.
"I don't know where that came from but you get a lot of them."
Instead, legendary English midfielder Paul Gascoigne was who Ferguson desperately wanted to become a Red Devil.
In 1998, United had agreed a deal with Newcastle to bring 'Gazza' to the northwest but a personal touch from Tottenham Hotspur gazumped Ferguson and co's offer.
"I'm not saying he didn't have a good career but he would have had a better career with us," the 13-time Premier League winning manager explained of the "absolutely fantastic player," before explaining why he would fit in at Old Trafford.
"We had Geordies in our squad like [Bryan] Robson, [Steve] Bruce plus Bobby Charlton."
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"Sir Bobby would have been a fantastic mentor to him because he's such a fantastic man and even Gary Pallister, although he was from Middlesbrough and I know they don't count that as a Geordie, as someone who understands the culture like Gary would.
"He promised to sign for us and I went on holiday," Ferguson revealed.
"I got a phone-call from the front desk from Martin Edwards saying he'd signed for Tottenham.
"He signed for Tottenham because they bought his mother a house for £80,000 and, dearie me, I couldn't believe it, you know. He was a fantastic player."
The ex-Red Devils boss also lifted the lid on the conversations that he and Gascoigne have had since, revealing the former England hero regretted his decision.
United supporters may be disappointed to hear that but can at least take comfort in the fact the Sneijder saga has been finally been explained.
