Rio Ferdinand says former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson bumbled a deal for Arjen Robben.Bayern Munich star Robben was available from PSV Eindhoven back in 2004 and was set to join United before Chelsea stepped in.
Speaking in his Daily Mail column Ferdinand said : "Arjen Robben has been the outstanding player of the tournament for me so far, and not for the first time I've being thinking 'if only' about the missed opportunity Manchester United had to sign him when he was young.
"He should have been a United player. He would have fitted in.
"He had a brilliant breakthrough season with PSV in 2002-03, a campaign in which he turned 19, and Sir Alex Ferguson wanted to sign him.
"United made a bid of something around £5m and Sir Alex was always determined he wouldn't over-pay for any player.
"When that was rejected, Chelsea paid something like £12m."
