Sir Alex Ferguson
Sir Alex Ferguson is the most decorated manager in football history, having collected a remarkable 49 titles throughout his illustrious career on the sidelines, including 13 Premier League titles and the Champions League twice with Manchester United.
Renowned for his astute recruitment and knack for developing promising youngsters into superstars, Ferguson is widely regarded as the greatest football coach of all time, having overseen the most successful Man United era ever and established them as a dominant force in England and Europe during his tenure, which spanned just under three decades.
However, even the greatest managers can occasionally get things wrong, and Ferguson once reflected on a missed opportunity to sign a player who would go on to become a Premier League icon.
In 2003, the Scottish tactician travelled to France to watch the highly rated goalkeeper in action but ultimately felt he was ‘a bit young for the bruisers’ in the Premier League.
Sir Alex Ferguson cast his verdict on Freddy Adu
Sir Alex Ferguson cast his verdict on Freddy Adu
Sir Alex Ferguson Snubbed Signing Petr Cech
Petr Cech
Petr Cech
Ferguson once revealed he passed up the opportunity to sign former Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech in 2003 after travelling to watch him play for Rennes:
Man United struggled to find a suitable replacement for Peter Schmeichel after the Danish goalkeeper departed Old Trafford following the treble-winning season in 1999, with Mark Bosnich, Fabien Barthez, Roy Carroll and Tim Howard all failing to establish themselves as dependable regular starters.
Although their goalkeeping problem was eventually solved by Edwin van der Sar’s arrival in 2005 – the Dutchman went on to become one of the greatest Premier League shot-stoppers ever – bringing Cech to Old Trafford could have proved an even better solution in 2003.
At that stage, Cech was developing into one of Europe’s brightest young goalkeepers with considerable potential, and just one year later Premier League rivals Chelsea signed him for only €7million – an exceptional piece of business in hindsight.
Cech's Brilliant Premier League Career
Petr Čech at Arsenal
Cech went on to establish himself as one of the finest goalkeepers in history during his 11-year spell at Stamford Bridge and helped Chelsea claim a host of domestic and European honors, including four Premier Leagues, one Champions League and four FA Cups.
He made a total of 494 appearances for Chelsea across all competitions, recording 228 clean sheets while conceding 393 goals, and also claimed the Premier League Golden Glove on three occasions (2005, 2010 and 2014).
The former Czech international left West London in 2015 to join London rivals Arsenal, where he spent the last four seasons of his career and helped the Gunners lift the FA Cup in 2017.