Gianluca Pagliuca had an iconic career which spanned three different clubs in Italy. The goalkeeper has now talked about Manchester United at the peak of his powers.
The Italian played over 200 times for Inter Milan, Sampdoria and Bologna. He also made 39 appearances for the Azzurri, playing in the 1994 and 1998 World Cups.
The 58-year-old has spoken to Gazzetta dello Sport about his career this week.
As part of the chat, he said he turned Manchester United down during his time at Inter. Ronaldo’s (the R9 version) presence at the Italian side played a role in that.
“Ferguson wanted me, but Inter had just signed Ronaldo, and I had no intention of leaving: I was on the team with “Il Fenomeno,” the best player I’ve ever seen in my entire career. Plus, Moratti didn’t want to sell me. ”
Pagliuca also claimed that in the modern era, he would have joined Manchester United. Back then, things were different in Serie A.
“The Premier League was less appealing than Serie A at the time, so today I’d probably make a different choice. Back then, all the best players came to play for us.”
The goalkeeper was at Inter between 1994 and 1999. That’s when Manchester United had Peter Schmeichel between the sticks, having signed him from Brondby in 1991.
Schmeichel stayed at Old Trafford until 1999, when he had his most famous triumph with the club. However good Pagliuca was – and he certainly was – it’s unlikely he’d have replaced the Dane.