Top News

Manchester United great Ryan Giggs has spoken about a desperate but unsuccessful attempt to convince Elliot Anderson to turn down a move to Manchester City and join Old Trafford instead. The former Wales international said he repeatedly “peppered” the midfielder during a chance meeting on a golf course, only for the now-City star to tell him to mind his own business.

A chance meeting on the course

The chase for elite talent usually takes place behind the scenes, but Giggs has revealed he took a far more personal route in his effort to bring Anderson to Manchester United. Speaking on Rio Ferdinand Presents: The Debrief, the legendary winger explained how he tried to make the most of an accidental meeting with the England midfielder while on holiday shortly before the World Cup.

Giggs admitted he did not hold back once he realised he was on the same course as the then-United target. “It was literally a few days before he went to the World Cup. I peppered him,” Giggs told Ferdinand.

“He didn’t know how to take it at first, and then he relaxed a little bit. But for the first four or five holes, we were literally crossing. And at the end of it, he went, ‘will you just let me, leave me alone. Will you just let me play my golf, please? You’re in trouble’.”

The financial reality of the Anderson deal

In spite of the charm offensive from one of United’s all-time greats, the Red Devils were eventually priced out of a move. Manchester City signed Anderson for £116 million, a fee that altered the shape of the summer market.

Looking back at the size of the transfer, Ferdinand backed Giggs’ forceful recruitment approach but accepted that United simply could not compete financially. “That’s what I do when I see some players. I don’t care. You’ve got to try all sorts to get these deals over. It’s mad, though. Obviously, the price tag was crazy. And it’s just like astronomical money. Man United ain’t got the budget to pay for that.”

Guardiola’s surprising Manchester United preference

During the interview, Giggs then moved on to another interesting story involving former Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola. He remembered a dinner attended by several major football figures, including Sir Alex Ferguson, when the subject of the United squad came up. Giggs wanted to know which player the serial-winning coach admired most from their city rivals.

Giggs retold the exchange from several years ago, saying the Catalan coach was extremely clear and immediate about the player he would choose for his own side.

“There’s about eight of us, so he [Ferguson] sat me next to Pep, this was about, I’m going to say about eight or nine years ago,” Giggs recalled. “I’ve gone to Pep and says, ‘you know, who do you like at United?’, he went, ‘Well, who do you think?’

“So I went, De Gea? He went, no. Luke Shaw? I was just like, no. He said ‘the best player at Man United, Marcus Rashford. I would take him tomorrow’. And that just made me [think], what’s he seeing Pep? And that was obviously as a centre forward.”

Derby day looms at Old Trafford

The disclosure about Guardiola’s early admiration for Rashford adds an intriguing layer to the forward’s journey at Old Trafford. Although Rashford has had to rebuild his career away on loan in recent seasons, the fact that the City boss identified him as United’s “best player” says plenty about the level he was seen as capable of reaching.

With United set to host City this Sunday, the stories shared by Giggs are a reminder of the fine margins involved in elite-level recruitment and the respect that can exist between fierce rivals. United supporters will be left wondering how things might have unfolded if Giggs’ golf-course pitch had worked, or if Rashford had ever made the unthinkable move to the blue half of Manchester.