Midfield star reveals his Man United snub backfired horribly, he would have been a perfect fit

Louis van Gaal spent two years as Manchester United manager, memorably winning the FA Cup in 2016 then being sacked two days later. Midfield movement While in the hot seat, the Dutchman sought to find a strong midfield as established stars like Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher called time on their illustrious Old Trafford careers. After taking over from David Moyes and inheriting Marouane Fellaini, Van Gaal was immediately handed Ander Herrera and took United to a fourth-place Premier League finish. The following summer there was a flurry of midfield movement in Manchester, as the Red Devils swooped for Morgan Schneiderlin from Southampton. United also signed Bayern Munich legend Bastian Schweinsteiger in what seemed like a coup but was ultimately a misjudged move for a player in decline. Biglia almost joined As normal, the club were linked with many others, including Lucas Biglia who was impressing at Lazio. The Argentine has now confirmed how close an Old Trafford transfer came, and the angst the rejection of the Red Devils caused. Biglia had been in fine form in Rome but was looking to move on, and was in no doubt that a move to United was a concrete option. “I was heavily criticised by the fans because I wanted to leave,” the now-retired Biglia told Italian outlet Tribuna. “This was because in 2015 I received an offer from Manchester United, when Van Gaal was there.” Reason for United rejection He explained that Lazio CEO Claudio Lotito vetoed a move in no uncertain terms, but left the player furious after refusing to keep his word. Biglia said “Lotito told me he would never let me leave, and I accepted on condition that we renewed my contract. On top of that, Marcelo Bielsa was about to arrive, but nothing ever came of it. “I was promised a contract adjustment that never materialised.” The Argentine continued: “He summoned me to Formello at midnight, which was obviously when he finished work. He would sit down, eat and then fall asleep! In the meantime, [then Sporting Director] Tare told my agent to talk to him because he was listening anyway, and when we got to talking about the financial adjustment promised after I turned down United, he woke up and said he couldn’t do it because it would make the other players jealous or because he had to comply with Financial Fair Play.” Final thoughts Biglia, who played more than 50 times for Argentina, stops short of saying he regrets rejecting his chance to join United but is certainly still upset about the consequences of that decision. As Schneiderlin failed to consistently impress and Schweinsteiger quickly showed why Bayern were willing to let him leave, Biglia would have been a transformative figure for Van Gaal in the middle of the park. The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Joe Ponting Joe has spent more than half his life writing about football and all of it following United. As a child he told a doctor his name was ‘Paul Scholes’, but could never pick a pass like him no matter how much he tried. He cut his teeth working in print media for local newspapers and entered football journalism covering the grassroots game for the Non-League Paper. Here he achieved a career high, interviewing United legend Sir Bobby Charlton to get his views on the lower echelons of the football pyramid. To kill time during international breaks Joe writes album reviews and has strong views on post punk for Plus One Magazine.