Manchester United legend Paul Scholes has revealed the ‘massive’ offer that he received from one of Europe’s biggest clubs, and even mentioned his ‘biggest regret’.
Paul Scholes spent the entirety of his illustrious playing career donning the colours of Manchester United, alongside many of his fellow ‘class of 92’ stars.
Alongside the likes of Gary Neville and David Beckham, under the management of Sir Alex Ferguson, Scholes and Co. won 11 Premier League titles, as well as two Champions League trophies, plus many more.
As well as featuring over 700 times for United, Scholes was also a mainstay in the England set-up, as he earned 66 caps across an eight-year international career, spanning from 1997 to 2004.
Having spent an impressive 19 years in the United first team, from 1994 to 2013, it has always been questioned as to whether Scholes was tempted to move elsewhere. He has now opened up about the biggest offer that he ever received.
Scholes ‘massive’ offer from Inter Milan
In the latest episode of The Overlap, via Goal, Scholes spoke about how, at 25 years of age, he was met with a huge offer from Italian giants Inter Milan.
“I was 25, yeah,” Scholes recalled. “Inter Milan wanted to give me £4 million a year, tax-free. Back then, that was massive. It was probably more than double what I was on at United.”
Speaking about the transfer that was proposed to him by Ryan Giggs’ agent, Harry Swales, Scholes added, “I remember seeing it on the back of the paper: £30 million to Inter Milan or something, but I never heard anything about it again. It just vanished.”
Co-host Neville hypothesised that the proposal may have made it as far as United’s head office before being very abruptly shut down, given that Scholes never heard anything else about it.
Scholes’ Fergie face-off
After hearing the contract offer that had been proposed to him by Inter Milan, Scholes courageously decided to step into Ferguson’s office to ask for a wage hike.
“I actually still put up the courage, I thought, I’m still going to go,” he said. “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.”
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“He pulled out that little black book he always had. You remember the little black book he has? So, he’s flicking through the pages for like five minutes. ‘No, I think you’re all right. I think you’re level with everyone. It’s fine.’
“That was it. ‘I think what you’re on is good, yeah. All right, thanks. See you later.’ Jeez. That is the worst. That’s my biggest regret in football, doing that.”
It was definitely the best outcome for both parties that Scholes stayed put, as he then went on to be a key contributor to United’s dominant success over the 2000s and early 2010s.
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