Nemanja Vidic is a legend in the red half of Manchester, but he almost achieved immortality on Merseyside.
Vidic, who turns 43 on Monday (October 21), turned out for Manchester United between 2006 and 2014 after joining Sir Alex Ferguson’s side from Russian Premier League giants Spartak Moscow. However, speaking FourFourTwo, the Serbian confirmed he almost joined the Reds.
“Yes. Rafa Benitez [then-Liverpool boss] called me and I nearly went there,” he admitted. I was interested in going. My English wasn’t good and I was struggling to communicate.
“Then Manchester United came. Fergie called me at my apartment and said: ‘I watched you play for Serbia against France – I want you here’. United were decisive. Everything was done very quickly, within two days.”
Speaking after leaving England, Vidic named the best Premier League strikers he came up against in his career – with the likes of Didier Drogba, Sergio Aguero, Luis Suarez and even Peter Crouch among his top picks
“My first experience was Peter Crouch. I’d never seen a two-metres tall player before”, Vidic told The Athletic. “He played for Liverpool and we played them in a cup game at Anfield. I was thinking ‘Wow, what can I do today with this guy?’
“Then I saw Bellamy next to him, not a great player on the ball but very, very fast. He would run into space, Crouch would jump into the air. I’d never seen football played like this.
“I’d never had a No 9 and a sharp, fast, player next to him. I knew how to deal with them individually but not both of them at the same time. I played alongside Wes Brown, it was a tough game, a long game. We lost 1-0.”
(Image: Manchester United via Getty Images)
Vidic also touched on Drogba, the former Chelsea star who was sent off in the 2008 Champions League final for slapping Vidic.
Though the former United defender conceded that Drogba was as “very clever player who would get into the brain of the defenders”.