Former Harambee Stars captain Victor Wanyama has opened up about how Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013 cost him the chance to join Manchester United.
It occurred in 2012,when Wanyama made it to the Celtic’s history books that night when he opened the scoring just 21 minutes into the game. In the end, Celtic triumphed 2-1, with Tony Watt doubling the advantage and Lionel Messi pulling one back at Celtic Park.
“When I was at Celtic, I remember a breakthrough moment during a Champions League match against Barcelona. Sir Alex Ferguson came to watch that game. Afterward, the club president told me that Ferguson had come to watch me because I was also performing well in the league (Scottish Premiership),” Wanyama stated at a radio interview
Speculation buzzed as Manchester United had reportedly prepared a £10 million (KES 1 billion) bid for the Kenyan midfielder who was then plying his trade with Scottish Premier League heavyweights Celtic.
“Although we didn’t have a conversation, he did meet with the club president, who later informed me that they had talked with Ferguson about the possibility of me joining Manchester United. However, I’m not sure what ultimately happened, as that was the year when Ferguson left the club.” He added
Ferguson was however not the only one who scouted the defensive midfielder. Among others was veteran Scottish tactician Ferguson, who chose to retire at the end of the 2012–2013 season, thereby ending the midfielder’s hope of playing for United.
At the time, Wanyama was a young and promising 21-year-old midfielder who had arrived at Celtic in July 2011 from Belgian side Beerschot AC for a fee of £900,000 (KES117 million. He made a significant impact at Celtic, scoring a total of 13 goals.
Although the Manchester move did not materialize, Wanyama went on to become the first Kenyan to grace the English Premier League when he joined Southampton and Tottenham in the English League before moving to Canada to join CF Montreal
He also recently revealed that he is set to start his coaching badges in 2024 as he plans for his retirement from the game.
