Rio Ferdinand has revealed he came close to joining Barcelona in 2008, but did not want to leave Manchester United for a team in transition.
The United legend claims he was approached by then manager Frank Rijkaard in the tunnel after a Champions League semi-final stalemate at the Nou Camp.
Sir Alex Ferguson's side went on to beat Barca in the second leg at Old Trafford before beating Chelsea in the final in Moscow.
He told BT Sport: 'It came close. There were discussions with my agent, Barca had touched base. I'd spoken to Riijkard, not about going there but he made his feelings known.
'It was actually after the game in Barcelona where we drew 0-0, in the tunnel after the game I spoke to him.
'The problem with me going abroad, I always said I definitely wanted to go abroad and play, but the only thing that would ever have stopped me was if I was successful on home shores and I was lucky and fortunate to find a great club in Manchester United where it was going to be almost impossible for me to leave.
'We beat them and went on to become European champions, so why would I leave the European champions to go to another team in transition.
'At that point Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, they weren't the players they were three or four years later so it was a very different landscape at that time in Barcelona.'
Barca went on to appoint Pep Guardiola that summer and got their revenge on United 12 months later, beating them 2-0 in the final in Rome.
Guardiola's side won the treble that season and went on to beat United again two years later at Wembley.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com