Rio Ferdinand tried to get Premier League star to sign for Man United

Rio Ferdinand tried to take an active role in Manchester United's transfer business during his time as a player.

Ferdinand played 455 times for United, winning six Premier League titles across 12 seasons.

And in his later years, the former England international tried to be a 'secret agent' of sorts and help convince transfer targets to join.

On his FIVE podcast, the TNT Sports pundit revealed he tried to get Liverpool midfielder Thiago Alcantara to join him at United prior to his switch from Barcelona to Bayern Munich.

But prior to that, the 45-year-old was desperately attempting to get Luka Modric to sign for United.

According to Ferdinand, Modric was keen on becoming the first Croatian to play for the Red Devils.

However, United had already agreed a deal for Shinji Kagawa of Borussia Dortmund and so Modric left Spurs for Real Madrid in a £30 million transfer.

Image: Getty

“Any player that was available or was coming up I used to think that I could somehow get into them," he said on FIVE.

"Even Thiago Alcantara at Liverpool, I spoke to him before he left Barcelona to go to Bayern Munich and that almost happened but we signed [Marouane] Fellaini instead.

“But Modric, I remember speaking to him, I said, ‘Are you leaving [Tottenham]?’ and he said, ‘Yeah, I think I’m going to go’ but he wasn’t sure at the time where he was going.

“I said, ‘Listen, you’ve got to come to United, man’ and he said, ‘Yeah, listen, I want to be the first Croatian to play for Man United, I want to be that guy, can we make it happen?’

“But it didn’t happen. I spoke to David Gill and the manager [Sir Alex] at the time had already agreed with Shinji Kagawa I think it was – I think that was the year, I’m sure it was. Or they already had irons in the fire with another player and they did that deal and then Modric went to Madrid and the rest is history."

Image: Getty

Kagawa signed for £17 million and won the Premier League, scoring six times in 57 appearances.

Modric was initially branded a flop at Real but has been a mainstay in the Los Blancos midfield for over a decade.

The 38-year-old has won five Champions Leagues and even claimed the 2018 Ballon d'Or after captaining Croatia to the World Cup final.

Topics: Rio Ferdinand, Premier League, Manchester United, Luka Modric

Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

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