'I rejected Liverpool transfer for unusual reason before becoming a Man Utd legend'

Nemanja Vidic turned down a move to Liverpool for a bizarre reason before achieving legendary status at Manchester United. He is regarded as one of the Premier League's greatest ever centre-backs, having won 15 trophies during his time at Old Trafford. The defender helped them to clinch five Premier League titles as well as the Champions League in 2008.

Vidic also captained the Red Devils and is one of only five players to win the league's Player of the Season award on two occasions. He hung up his boots in 2016 and is revered as a legend by United fans around the world. However, the former Serbia international nearly went down a very different path.

Before joining United, he was pursued by Liverpool with the Reds going to great lengths to try and secure his signature. The move never materialised, though, with Vidic turning it down because of his inability to speak English.

During a recent appearance on , he explained: "In 2005, I had a call from Liverpool. Rafa Benitez called me and I spoke to him. He said he wanted me to come to Liverpool.

"I was interested. I thought about Liverpool, but my English was not good and I was struggling to communicate. Then Manchester United came."

Vidic signed for United the following year and the rest, as they say, is history. He developed a rock-solid partnership with Rio Ferdinand and was a crucial member of the side that won it all under Sir Alex Ferguson.

The defender also revealed that his first United contract was only worth half of what he was earning at Spartak Moscow, the club he was signed from.

"For me at the time, it wasn't about the money," added Vidic. "I wanted to test myself. If I wanted more money, it would've been better for me to stay in Moscow.

"I had double the money in Moscow than I did in Manchester when I came. Obviously, Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill told me don't worry and that this contract is just the beginning, and then if I played 50 games we'll change the contract."

Fiorentina also wanted to sign Vidic before he chose to join United, with Ferguson admitting at the time that he was delighted with the outcome.

"I'm very happy," he told Sky Sports. "There was a period when a lot of negotiation had to be done. There were other clubs interested and there was an issue with the Italian club.

"Fortunately, we were able to resolve the problem and I'm delighted that he's here. The difficult thing about making your move in these situations is if you go too early, before the window opens, you can alert other clubs so there's a timing involved in that."

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