Sir Alex Ferguson once tried to sign Paolo Maldini from AC Milan but was told to in no uncertain terms to ‘forget it’.
The legendary Italian defender was a one club man during his career and played an unbelievable 902 times for AC Milan in a career that spanned from 1985 to 2009.
His association with the club has not ended there as he is their current sporting director.
With Milan he won seven Serie A titles and the European Cup five times, while also being part of some great Italian national teams who competed at World Cups and European Championships.
It is no wonder Ferguson tried to sign the defender at Manchester United but any approach was immediately rebuffed.
Maldini’s father, Cesare, told the United boss there was no chance of signing his son.
At an event in Italty, Ferguson said: “Well I did try. But when I met his father he was quite formidable. I got a shake of the head. That’s all I got.
“He did say ‘my grandfather was Milan, my father’s Milan, I’m Milan and my son is Milan. Forget it’.”
Cesare, who died in 2016, himself played more than 400 times for Milan during the 1950s and 1960s and then went on to manage the club during three different spells.