Premier League icon reveals Sir Alex Ferguson called him ‘every week’ in bid to sign him… with Man United and Arsenal ‘rolling out the red carpet’ for his services before he joined rivals

A Premier League legend has revealed that Sir Alex Ferguson phoned him ‘every week’ in a bid to get him to sign for Manchester United.

Ferguson is one of the most iconic Premier League managers of all time, winning the title 13 times before retiring in 2012 and stepping away from his 27-year reign at the Red Devils.

During his time in charge, he saw thousands of players come and go, but he almost ended up coaching one of the best the division has ever seen.

The star revealed on William Hill‘s podcast, Up Front with Simon Jordan, that, before joining the club he would ultimately make a name for himself at, he was pestered by Ferguson in a bid to persuade him to join United, which ultimately never came to fruition.

The top division icon is indeed John Terry, who stated that Ferguson would contact him weekly to make sure he was on top of his training before joining Chelsea. 

Ferguson is the most successful Premier League manager of all time, winning the title 13 times

John Terry, meanwhile, claimed that Ferguson’s United tried to sign him prior to his move to Chelsea

‘I was in the West Ham academy for two or three years and one night we found out our coach had left, so I told my dad that I didn’t want to go back,’ Terry, who was this week inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame, said. ‘Then I went to Arsenal for a year and at that time I was floating between Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea.

‘Arsenal and United both rolled out the red carpet for me, but Chelsea didn’t do anything. I had Sir Alex Ferguson phoning my house every week to speak to me and my dad, checking that I was going to school and training correctly.

‘Even with all that, when I walked into Chelsea I just knew it was the right club for me. I felt like it was my home, like when you walk into a house and just feel you belong there for the next 20 years.’

Despite Ferguson’s best efforts, Terry rejected United’s approach and signed for Chelsea as a 14-year-old in 1995, going onto make 717 appearances and lift 17 major trophies including five Premier League titles and a Champions League.

United, meanwhile, were just fine, going onto win a total of 38 major trophies under Ferguson.

Arsenal would go onto win the Premier League in 2004, their last top division title, winning it without losing a game as the Invincibles. Terry, however, took aim at the season, suggesting it had nothing on Chelsea’s 2004-05 title win that saw them concede just 15 league goals.

Terry would enjoy plenty of success at Chelsea, making 717 appearances for the club in a long and illustrious career 

The defender also claimed his 2004-05 Chelsea side’s season was better than Arsenal’s Invincibles campaign 

‘I’m going to upset a couple of people here, but I think that season was as good as the Invincibles season for Arsenal,’ he claimed. ‘They drew an awful lot of games.

‘We only lost once, away to Man City, Paulo Ferreira gave away a penalty early on in the game and we should have come back and won the game.

‘When you look at the goals we conceded that year, we conceded against sides you wouldn’t expect if I’m honest and that’s no disrespect to them. Looking back today. That could have maybe been nine or 10 goals conceded.

‘I don’t think it’s a record that’s ever going to be beaten if I’m honest. I certainly hope it’s not and I’m very proud of what we did defensively. That’s what we were paid to do, keep the ball out the net. It obviously helped with players around me like Petr Cech, Ashley Cole and Ricky Carvalho, so I’m very thankful for that.’