Gary Neville informed Man Utd boss ‘purchase him in any respect prices’ however world class ace mentioned ‘no’ twice
Gary Neville was desperate for Manchester United to sign a world class star but one of the best strikers in the world said no to joining the Red Devils not once but twice
Manchester United have seen some of the greatest forwards to play the game turn out at Old Trafford, from Bobby Charlton to Eric Cantona and Wayne Rooney.
They’ve also been able to attract megastar strikers from abroad, including the likes of goal machine Ruud van Nistelrooy and the maverick Zlatan Ibrahimovic. But one of the finest attackers of his generation twice snubbed Sir Alex Ferguson when the Premier League giants were at their peak, despite Red Devils legends Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs imploring the great manager to sign him up.
That man was Italian icon Alessandro Del Piero, who bagged 208 goals in 513 Serie A games for the mighty Juventus, is the Turin club’s all-time leading scorer, and clinched the 2006 World Cup with his country. Sir Alex moved for the scintillating free kick expert twice – but on both occasions, Del Piero, who turned 51 on Sunday (November 9), turned United down.
Sir Alex previously admitted: “Del Piero is the only one who I would’ve gone mad for. After a match between United and Juventus, in which he destroyed half of our defence, Giggs and Neville came to me and asked me to buy him at all costs.
“Because someone like him would’ve made us win everything for decades. And so I contact the Juve representatives, and the lad’s agent.
“He refused even before listening to my proposal, telling me that Juve was the best place for him and, that while he respected Manchester United, he would never have been able to betray the black and white colours.
“A pity, because I never again saw someone like him.”
The United boss returned for the striker after Juventus were relegated to Serie B for their part in the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal. Del Piero had just helped fire Italy to glory in the World Cup, scoring in the semi-final win over hosts Germany and a penalty in the shootout victory over France in the final.
But once again, Del Piero turned Sir Alex down, insisting he wanted to help to restore Juve to their place at the top of Serie A.
Ferguson said: “I courted him even just after Italy’s World Cup win [in 2006]. In that time, Real Madrid were also after him. Given the issues around Juventus at the time, I imagined that between us at United and the ‘galacticos’, there would be a fair auction to get him.
“And so I called him directly: ‘Alex, I’d like you at United’, I said. ‘You’ll be the star of the squad, and together we’ll win everything’.
“He laughed and replied: ‘Sir, you know that nothing has changed from all those years ago. Juve are facing difficult times, and I have to help them. I can’t be a coward’.
“In 2008, I saw him again and he greeted me with a hug. He apologised for refusing my offer. I put my hand on his shoulder and re-assured him, ‘you wanted to save Juventus, and you did it’.”
