Would have loved to: Real Madrid legend explains why he turned down United twice

AC Milan legend Clarence Seedorf has confirmed that he could have joined Manchester United on two occasions in his career. The Dutch midfielder is a legendary name in football history and remains the only player to have won the Champions League with three different clubs. Seedorf began his career at Ajax, where he helped them win the premier European club competition in 1995. That earned him a move to Sampdoria, before Real Madrid came calling a year later. The Dutchman won the Champions League once again with Los Blancos in 1998 and then moved to Inter Milan in 2000. After two years with the Nerazzurri, Seedorf made the controversial switch to AC Milan. The Dutchman spent 10 seasons with the Rossoneri, winning several trophies, including his third and fourth Champions League titles. Seedorf left in 2012 to join Botafogo before hanging up his boots two years later. The legendary midfielder recently sat down with United icon Rio Ferdinand for a conversation on Rio Ferdinand Presents, where he confirmed that his efforts had caught Sir Alex Ferguson’s eye. Was close to joining United twice When asked by Ferdinand why he never signed for a Premier League club, Seedorf revealed that he was close to joining United twice. He said: “I was almost twice coming to you guys.” “In the beginning, in the early years. But then Spain and Italy were the places to be. Then Premier League took off, you know, in terms of the best place we started going to. But I was still at AC Milan at that point. I did 10 years at AC Milan.” “I had Arsenal and Manchester United and Real Madrid. When I went from Sampdoria to Real Madrid, after Madrid, the same thing, more or less. And then I went to Inter Milan.” Seedorf joined Inter for Ronaldo Seedorf went on to divulge the details of turning down United the second time and joining Inter Milan instead, adding that Ronaldo Nazario was the reason behind his decision. He said: “R9 was playing at Inter.” “Lippi (Marcello Lippi, former Inter Milan coach), so Lippi, one of the best coaches at that time. He called me, he said, I want you to come and play behind Christian Vieri and Ronaldo. I said when and where? I need to present myself.” “I mean, these are moments. And as I said, I think, I mean, if there’s any club in England, most likely the three, because I grew up watching the Premier League, Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal. These were like iconic clubs. And so I would have loved to…” Final Thoughts United were already an unstoppable force during the reign of the legendary Sir Alex, who took the club to unprecedented heights. However, one assumes that the Red Devils would have become even better had the great Scot managed to sign Seedorf. Sir Alex Ferguson: Trophies won at Manchester United CompetitionTitlesWinning Seasons / Years Premier League131992–93, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2012–13 FA Cup51989–90, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1998–99, 2003–04 Football League Cup41991–92, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10 FA Charity/Community Shield101990 (shared), 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011 UEFA Champions League21998–99, 2007–08 UEFA Champions League (Runner-up)22008–09, 2010–11 European Cup Winners’ Cup11990–91 European Super Cup11991 Intercontinental Cup11999 FIFA Club World Cup12008 Source: Transfermarkt. 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 Deepungsu Pandit Deepungsu has been a Manchester United fan since 2000. In his playing days, he was an attacking midfielder with a proclivity for the back heel. Right now, however, he prefers to operate as a regista. Deepungsu has been writing about the Red Devils, Football, and other things since 2009. He has worked for over seven years with Sportskeeda, writing football reviews, opinions and news articles. Deepungsu also maintains a blog, The Thinking Me, where he writes about life and things that interest him. His favourite Manchester United player is Paul Scholes.