Scholes apparently had a big-money offer on the table from Inter Milan in 2000
Paul Scholes has revealed his biggest regret from his footballing careeropen image in gallery
Paul Scholes has revealed his biggest regret from his footballing career (GETTY IMAGES)
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Paul Scholes has admitted gossip surrounding a big-money move away from Manchester United led to his “biggest regret in football”.
Scholes revealed that he was contacted by Ryan Giggs’ agent Harry Swales - described by Gary Neville as a “trustworthy guy” - during Euro 2000, who claimed that Italian giants Inter Milan wanted to give the then 25-year-old midfielder a mammoth pay rise.
While Scholes decided not to actively pursue a move to the San Siro, he tried to leverage the apparent interest to get a pay rise out of Sir Alex Ferguson - something which didn’t exactly go to plan.
Speaking on The Overlap, Scholes said: “He (Swales) went ‘Inter Milan want to give you £4m-a-year tax free’. We got to pre-season and (teammates said) ‘you need to go see the manager - tell him you want more money.’ It’s the worst thing I ever did in my life. I felt so bad.
“I plucked up the courage. I think I said something like ‘I think I deserve more money or I want to be on more money’. What am I doing, just looking at him!
“He pulls a little black book out and he’s flicking through the pages for like five minutes. (Ferguson says) ‘No I think you’re alright, I think you’re level with everyone. It’s fine, what you’re on is good.’ Alright thanks, see you later! That’s my biggest regret in football, doing that.
“It was mad doing it because I’m at Man United, the club of my dreams. It was horrible. My heart just thinking about it, I feel so bad (for) doing it.”
Scholes was at the peak of his powers as one of the world’s best midfielders at the turn of the millennium, with Man United just a year out from winning the treble.
Also joined by Neville, Roy Keane, Ian Wright and Jill Scott on the episode, the quartet stuck up for Scholes, saying he was well within his right to try his luck.
Paul Scholes (left) was at the peak of his powers in 2000open image in gallery
Paul Scholes (left) was at the peak of his powers in 2000 (Getty Images)
“It was bigger than what I was getting then - probably more than double (his United salary),” Scholes said, recalling the offer. “I remember seeing on the back of the paper ‘£30m to Inter Milan’ or something but I never heard anything about it ever again after that. I obviously said no to Harry.”
Neville suspected Inter had contacted the club and Ferguson responded by immediately shutting down the notion of a transfer, hence why Scholes never heard anything official.
Scholes remained a one-club man at Old Trafford for the remainder of his career, making 716 appearances across two decades to become a bona fide United legend.
The 50-year-old has dipped into management and punditry since retiring in 2013 but called time on his broadcasting career to take care of his autistic son.