Former Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic has revealed that he had an agreement to join Fiorentina before he signed for United in December 2005.
The Serbian initially struggled to adapt to the rigours of English football after his £7 million pound Christmas Day move from Spartak Moscow.
Fortunately, the Serbian would become arguably the club’s greatest ever Christmas present as he formed a formidable defensive partnership with Rio Ferdinand.
Vidic would go on to play 300 times for the Red Devils, scoring 21 goals in total.
He would also play a pivotal role in the club’s success of that era, winning every trophy imaginable, including the Champions League in 2008.
However, the Serbian has claimed that history could have been so different as he had already agreed a deal with another team before signing on the dotted line at Old Trafford.
Speaking to Sky Sports he claimed, “in life, when people start speaking good about you, a lot of people find interest. I had interest from Fiorentina, I had agreed a deal to go there, then came Liverpool.”
He revealed that his English was not good enough to communicate effectively with the then Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez but that he was “keen” to bring him to Anfield.
Fortunately for every United fan, there could be no agreement between the two clubs and Sir Alex Ferguson swooped in to land the sensational centre back.
Vidic claimed, “Sir Alex Ferguson just called me maybe three weeks after Rafa and he asked me, ‘do you want to play for Man United?’ and I said ‘yes’ and he said, ‘just leave it to me’.”
“Sir Alex Ferguson called me, maybe three weeks after Rafa” 👀
Nemanja Vidic on almost going to Liverpool instead of Manchester United 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/99TqRXOdWl
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 27, 2024
The United team of that era was packed with incredible talent, so it is possible they would have found success anyway.
Nonetheless, the signings of Vidic and Patrice Evra in the winter window of 2006 would prove vital in revolutionising United’s defence alongside Rio Ferdinand and Edwin van der Sar, which would form the backbone of Ferguson’s all-conquering side.
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Alex Browne
Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Proud owner of such niche shirts such as Kleberson, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Gary Neville. Grew up pretending to be Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the back garden, with little success.
