Sir Alex Ferguson angered Jurgen Klopp with secret transfer phone call

Robert Lewandowski has opened up about a secret phone call he had with Sir Alex Ferguson about a potential move to Manchester United - and it's fair to say that Jurgen Klopp was not best pleased.

Lewandowski is one of the best strikers of his generation but, to his regret, he has never had the chance to test himself in the Premier League.

The Polish striker has scored bags of goals during spells at Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and now Barcelona, and has won pretty much every trophy there is to win.

Lewandowski won back-to-back Bundesliga titles with Borussia Dortmund following his move from Lech Poznan in 2010, and went on to win a further eight league winner's medals and a Champions League medal following a controversial move to Bayern.

Last summer the Pole switched Bavaria for Catalunya, where his 17 goals in 23 league games have helped Barcelona to establish a 12-point lead at the top of La Liga.

However, in a recent interview, Lewandowski revealed that his career path could have looked very different.

He revealed that while he was at Dortmund, he held a discreet telephone conversation with then-Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who convinced him to join the Premier League giants.

"I remember the moment exactly. We had a friendly with Dortmund in preparation, I think against Bochum. I was subbed at half-time," Lewandowski told Bild.

"I looked at my mobile phone in the dressing room. There was a text message with the sender +44. Ferguson had tried to call me and then sent me a message. He wanted to talk to me.

"I was still in the dressing room, I took a shower and called him back, in a quiet corner. My English wasn’t as good as it is today. He has a strong Scottish accent.

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"I was so focused on understanding what he meant! Alex Ferguson tried to be considerate, spoke slowly. I was 22 years old, it was a special moment."

Lewandowski spoke to Dortmund boss at the time, Klopp, but he got a rather blunt response.

"I spoke to Aki Watzke [Dortmund CEO] and Jurgen Klopp in the camp. I wanted to go to Man United! But they said: 'No chance, Robert. We need you. You have to stay'."

As they say, the rest is history. Lewandowski didn't go to United, and in the years since has won much more silverware than the Old Trafford side.

His failed move to United is not the only time he has been denied the chance to move to England though.

The striker was all set to join Blackburn Rovers from Poznan in 2010 but the eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafallajokul disrupted air travel across Europe and scuppered the deal.