'I was very close to Man Utd transfer – I’d have loved move but I decided not to go'

Marcos Senna previously revealed that he was tantalisingly close to donning the Manchester United jersey until an intervention from Manuel Pellegrini swayed his decision. The Brazilian-born football ace, who famously adorned the colours of Spain on the international stage, rose through the youth system at Rio Branco-SP before switching allegiances to Corinthians in 1999.

A brief stint at Juventude in 2001 preceded his transfer to Sao Caetano at the outset of 2002. His tenure at the Sao Paulo club was fleeting, and he soon ventured off to Europe, joining forces with Villarreal after a mere 13 appearances.

The midfielder became a standout performer for the Spanish outfit, netting 33 times in 361 showings during a memorable 11-year saga. Yet, Senna’s path could have diverged dramatically towards the theatre of dreams at Old Trafford, as he confessed in an intimate chat with Goal in 2020 about the missed opportunity in 2006: “I did not talk to [Sir Alex Ferguson], but my agent and Villarreal did, and I was very close to signing for Manchester United.

“At that stage I was full of doubts, my wife was pregnant with our first son and our adaptation here was excellent. Manchester United had asked me for [a response in] a few weeks, but we were creating a great team here: the club bought Robert Pires, Nihat Kahveci and Giuseppe Rossi was here, we had a great team.

“Personally, I would have loved to play for Manchester United at that time, but I also had desires to stay here. Villarreal had just played a Champions League semi-final and were buying big players.” He credited a pivotal conversation with then-coach Pellegrini for his ultimate decision to stay put: “To be honest, I was 50/50 until I spoke to Pellegrini and finally I signed for three more years with Villarreal and at the end I spent all my European career here in Spain.”

Senna’s choice led him to win two Intertoto Cups with Villarreal before he departed in 2013 for New York Cosmos, before eventually retiring in 2015. While Senna remained in Spain, United were in the midst of their Premier League golden era under the stewardship of Ferguson.

The club bagged five Premier League titles, two League Cups, four Charity Shields, a Club World Cup and a glittering Champions League trophy by the end of Ferguson’s reign in the 2012/13 season. Pellegrini himself moved on from Villarreal in 2009, experiencing numerous successful managerial roles at Real Madrid, Malaga, Manchester City, Hebei China Fortune, West Ham, and most recently Real Betis – taking over as head coach in 2020.