5 world class players who rejected Manchester United

#3 Steven Gerrard

Liverpool’s icon, messiah, hero and probably their greatest ever player could have been a hated rival if he had accepted the 7-year contract Manchester United had offered him early during his career.

Gerrard himself admitted that he has been subject to bids from plenty of top clubs like Manchester United, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Inter Milan. Speaking after the infamous ‘top top player’ jibe by Alex Ferguson in bis autobiography, Gerrard revealed:

"I went on trial at Manchester United when I was 13 and had a letter from them wanting to sign me on a seven-year-deal, I’m a huge fan of Alex Ferguson and what he’s done in the game is fantastic, I was generally a little bit gutted when I read that, the reaction of the papers, when he said I wasn’t a top, top player. But I won’t lose sleep over it, everyone is entitled to their opinion.”

"He tried to sign me in early 2002/2003, he tried to sign me again to play for United, I obviously refused, so I can’t really take it to heart too much. But I’m a bit gutted because I’m a big fan of his."

Steven Gerrard at Manchester United. Wow! That transfer could have probably changed the history of the Premier League. While Gerrard would undoubtedly have won the Premier League at United, the satisfaction of playing for his boyhood club and Liverpool fans far outweigh any trophy he might have won elsewhere.