Former Manchester United defender Patrice Evra has claimed that the club were close to signing both Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale ahead of the summer of 2013.
That ultimately ended up being the summer where Sir Alex Ferguson announced his retirement from football management, going out on a high after winning Man United their 20th league title.
At the time, Man United had won a Champions League within the previous five years, and had significant pull in the transfer market, having poached Robin van Persie from Arsenal a year earlier, but since Ferguson's retirement, they have not gotten close to winning another UCL crown, and have failed to add a single Premier League title either.
Bale, who scored 26 goals for Tottenham Hotspur in the season prior, would go on to move to Real Madrid that same summer, joining Ronaldo at the Bernabeu, even though the club had gone 11 years without a Champions League crown.
The Welshman's arrival at the club had a huge impact, though, as he would contribute to 39 goals in his debut season in Spain, helping them to end the wait for 'La Decima' - the club's 10th Champions League success.
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Evra makes shock Manchester United transfer claim
Speaking on the podcast of former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel, Evra dropped the bombshell claim when talking about Ferguson's departure.
"I didn't cry, I was in shock, the reason why is two weeks before, [Ferguson] brought me to his office, he said 'Patrice look at those people, they think I'm going to retire, I'm going to be here another 10 years.'" Evra claimed.
"We need to win more Champions Leagues, he said 'Patrice, Cristiano Ronaldo [has agreed] 99% to come back, and Gareth Bale [has agreed to join]', he needed £200m, and the club refused."
Ronaldo had left Man United for Real Madrid in a world-record £80m transfer just four years earlier, and there were some murmurs that he was prepared to leave the Bernabeu.
However, the Portuguese legend stayed, and Bale would sign for Los Blancos in an £85m move, forming one of the great modern-day attacking trios, along with Karim Benzema - nicknamed BBC.
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Did the board's refusal accelerate Ferguson's retirement?
Ferguson's retirement came as a shock, announcing it two weeks after they had sealed the 2012-13 Premier League title with a 3-0 win over Aston Villa in late April.
The news broke a few days before Man United's final home game of the season against Swansea City on May 12th, where it had already been confirmed that David Moyes would take over the following season.
Evra's claim that just two weeks earlier, Ferguson believed the club were about to sign Ronaldo and Bale, but had his request knocked back, could have contributed to his subsequent departure.
Many of the key players in Ferguson's final United squad were the wrong side of 30, or approaching it, such as Wayne Rooney, Van Persie, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Rio Ferdinand, and a rebuild was in order.
After Moyes's appointment, United would make just one signing that summer, with the arrival of Marouane Fellaini from Everton for £27.5m.
Andrew Delaney
