Arjen Robben: 'I wanted to join Manchester United ahead of Chelsea'

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 04 December 2018

Bayern Munich winger Arjen Robben reveals that he wanted to join Manchester United ahead of Chelsea when he moved to England in 2004.

Bayern Munich winger Arjen Robben has revealed that he wanted to join Manchester United before moving to English football with Chelsea in 2004.

The then-PSV Eindhoven winger met with United boss Sir Alex Ferguson and went for dinner in Manchester, only to end up joining Jose Mourinho at Stamford Bridge instead.

Robben went on to win two Premier League titles, the FA Cup and two League Cups in three years at Chelsea, before establishing himself as one of the world's best wingers at Real Madrid and Bayern.

However, the former Netherlands international has confirmed that he would have signed for United had he been offered a contract following their meeting.

"I had a very good conversation with [Ferguson] over dinner in Manchester and we spoke about football and life. I also went and had a good look around the training ground and everything was good, but after I went back to PSV nothing happened," Robben told FourFourTwo.

"There was no real contact and the deal didn't happen. PSV were also negotiating with Chelsea at that time, so maybe they offered PSV more money? I don't really know. I spoke to Chelsea and I liked their plans.

"We had one meeting and everything was done pretty quickly. Had Manchester United offered me a deal straight after I met them, I would have signed there, but it didn't happen and I've got no regrets."

Robben will leave Bayern after 10 seasons at the end of the current campaign.