Nemanja Vidic has revealed how he nearly ended up at Liverpool instead of Manchester United.
The former Old Trafford favourite has spoken of how Rafa Benitez wanted him for the Reds and a deal was almost done.
The centre-back would go on to play 300 times for United, winning five Premier League titles and a Champions League under Alex Ferguson after the Scot moved quickly to secure his man in 2006.
Vidic, now 34, retired in January after a spell at Inter Milan and told the September issue of FourFourTwo magazine he is now hoping to move into management.
But he also recalled how his career almost went in a very different path.
Vidic said: “Yes. Rafa Benitez called me and I nearly went there. I was interested in going but my English wasn’t good and I was struggling to communicate.
“Then Manchester United came. Fergie called me at my apartment and said: ‘I watched you play for Serbia against France - I want you here’. United were decisive. Everything was done very quickly, within two days.”
Liverpool became Vidic's nemesis while at Old Trafford, particularly struggling against Fernando Torres's pace, and the big defender was sent off four times against the Reds.
Read the full One-on-One interview with Nemanja Vidic in the September 2016 issue of FourFourTwo
