‘I did not just like the odor at Man Utd so joined their rivals and was unstoppable’
Arjen Robben starred for Chelsea in the Premier League but his career could have panned out incredibly differently had he joined Manchester United in 2004
Arjen Robben’s illustrious career could have panned out completely differently had he joined Manchester United in 2004.
The legendary winger joined Chelsea for £12.1million from PSV Eindhoven after helping the Dutch giants to the Eredivisie title. But he almost never joined the Blues with Sir Alex Ferguson keen to bring him to Old Trafford.
Robben, who turned 41 on Thursday, even went to visit United’s Carrington training ground when he was still at PSV but the deal never materialised. Robben eventually decided to head to West London instead.
Rio Ferdinand recalled why in an extraordinary tale on an Instagram Live in 2021, when he was asked who was better between Robben and his former United team-mate, the Welsh wing wizard Ryan Giggs. He said: “I’d have to go for Giggsy, you know.
“Robben was nasty though, ooh Robben, you knew he was going to come back in on his left foot but the left-back couldn’t deal with it. He was saying ‘I’m going to come in on my left, you’re not going to stop me’ – and they didn’t. What a player, Robben was great. We should have signed him at United. I think he came to the training ground, he walked around and didn’t like the smell and walked off and went Chelsea.
“Couldn’t believe it man. He would have been great for us. But Giggsy was an unbelievable footballer, left wing, into centre midfield by the end of his career.”
Robben has already spoken out on his failed move to United, admitting he had dinner with then-manager Sir Alex Ferguson. “I had a very good conversation with him [Ferguson] over dinner in Manchester and we spoke about football and life,” Robben told FourFourTwo magazine.
“I also went and had a good look around the training ground and everything was good, but after I went back to PSV nothing happened.”
Robben was an instant hit at Stamford Bridge , where he won two Premier League trophies, two League Cups and the FA Cup. After an injury-ravaged season, Real Madrid came to sign him in 2007 but he only had one year in La Liga before joining Bayern Munich.
It is at the Bundesliga outfit where Robben is most adored, scoring 144 goals in 309 appearances for the German giants.