Back in 2011, Manchester United, like many clubs at the time, were casting a keen-eye towards Tottenham’s midfield magician Luka Modric.
And with good reason; the Croatian was considered by many to be the natural heir to United’s central midfield, with the impending retirement of Paul Scholes.
The glove certainly fits, right?
Just imagine Modric dictating the play at Old Trafford with his vision, positioning and range of passing.
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But United never got their man, and instead watched on as Spanish giants Real Madrid snapped him up for £30million in the summer of 2012.
So why then, did Sir Alex Ferguson simply allow one of the finest midfielders of his generation to slip through his fingers?
Daniel Levy, of course.
According the Observer, Fergie and David Gill, United’s chief executive, couldn’t bear the thought of dealing with the Spurs chairman again.
Fergie and Gill had never quite forgotten what it was like dealing with Levy in the transfer saga he referred to as ‘the Dimitar Berbatov carry-on’.
In fact, the Scot remarked that his hip surgery was more enjoyable than negotiating with Levy.
Yikes.
For those of you too young to remember, United spent the majority of 2008 linked with a move for Berbatov, which caused Levy to file a complaint to the Premier League claiming the Red Devils had purposely unsettled the striker.
It all turned a bit nasty and after much ado, United finally signed the Bulgarian for a club-record fee of £30.75million and we all aged considerably having to hear about it.
And after that ordeal, Fergie seemingly vowed to never to do business with the Spurs chief again.
So, as good as Modric was (and he’s still very, very good) United simply couldn’t stomach another negotiating with Levy.
Which is fair enough, considering he’s a man who convinced Madrid to part with £85m for Gareth Bale.