Manchester United were serial winners under Sir Alex Ferguson.
However, the Red Devils’ winning machine wanted more – and they turned their attention to Italian World Cup icon Alessandro Del Piero. Sir Alex moved for the Juve star twice – but on both occasions, Del Piero, who turns 49 on Saturday (November 9), turned them down.
“Del Piero is the only one who I would’ve gone mad for,” Ferguson admitted. “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 Man United, he would never have been able to betray the black and white colours. A pity, because I never again saw someone like him.”
That was not the only time that Ferguson attempted a move for Del Piero though, with the United boss returning for the striker after Juventus were relegated to Serie B for their part in the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal.
But once again, Del Piero turned him down, insisting that he wanted to help to restore Juve to their place at the top of Serie A.
“I courted him even just after Italy’s World Cup win [in 2006]. In that time, Real Madrid were also after him,” Ferguson added. “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’.”