Manchester United icon Nemanja Vidic has admitted that he could have joined Liverpool before Sir Alex Ferguson swooped in to bring the defender to Old Trafford
Manchester United legend Nemanja Vidic has revealed how close he came to joining the club’s bitter rivals Liverpool before his move to Old Trafford.
Vidic was snapped up from Spartak Moscow for £7million in December 2005 and officially joined the club a month later. The centre-back, who recently confessed his desire to become United boss in the future, had been linked with a move to Old Trafford two years earlier and soon proved why Sir Alex Ferguson had been a long-term fan of the defender.
He would go on to win 10 major honours during his eight-and-a-half years at United, including five Premier League titles and clinching the Champions League in 2008. However, Vidic has admitted that he had attracted interest from Liverpool and another Premier League side before Ferguson acted decisively to bring him to United.
“Yes, we talked [with Rafa Benítez] maybe once or twice, but nothing happened for two or three weeks,” Vidic told The Overlap, brought to you by Sky Bet. “David O’Leary wanted to bring me to Aston Villa too, but they didn’t have the money. I had dinner with David O’Leary – he came to Moscow.”
However, the decision was simple for Vidic once the United boss had contacted him. “Fergie just called me once and asked if I wanted to play for [Manchester] United, I said yes and that was done in four days,” he said.
Vidic made 15 appearances in the second half of the 2005/06 campaign, but it was the following season that his partnership with Rio Ferdinand began to flourish as the team won the league title for the first time in four years. Meanwhile, it was a case of what could have been for rivals Liverpool, who signed defenders Jan Kromkamp and Daniel Agger in the January window, and a struggling Villa side.
“I was happy to go to Aston Villa, but they didn’t have money at the time – that’s what David O’Leary told me,” Vidic explained. “Liverpool were waiting too long, and Sir Alex Ferguson came in quickly and did the deal in four days.
“When I met him [Sir Alex Ferguson] was when I signed the contract with him and David Gill. The mistake I made at the time was that I said I wanted to play for United but I didn’t say for how much money!”
Remarkably, Vidic revealed that his first United contract was worth half of what he was earning at Spartak Moscow, though this was soon rectified. “For me at the time, it wasn’t about the money – I wanted to test myself,” he said. “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 – it doesn’t matter if it’s 5 or 10 minutes – we’ll change the contract. After 20-25 games, I signed a new contract.”
The arrival of Vidic marked another important step towards the new side Ferguson was forming to challenge Chelsea’s recent dominance under Jose Mourinho. The club had already signed Edwin van der Sar and Park Ji-sung that summer, with Patrice Evra joining alongside Vidic in January 2006. The Serbian defender became club captain in 2010, leading United to two league titles as skipper.
After the signing of Vidic was announced, Ferguson said: “Good defenders win you things. This lad is really natural and athletic. You need good defenders and that is exactly what this lad is.”
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2025-07-11 07:34:04
