Sir Alex Ferguson has dropped a bombshell on the niche topic of ‚players who are/were perennially in the gossip pages linked with certain clubs‘.

You know who we mean – those names that have become synonymous with a team through years of speculation despite a move never actually materialising; Wiliam Carvalho and Arsenal, Leandro Damiao and Tottenham, Simon Kjaer and the whole of the Premier League, to name but a few.

As one of the biggest clubs on the planet, Manchester United have inevitably become associated with innumerable non-movers in their own right, including Nico Gaitan, Juan Roman Riquelme and Toni Kroos.

One name in particular, though, was linked with a switch to Old Trafford on an almost daily basis [citation needed] before his retirement: Wesley Sneijder.

Throughout his glittering 17-year career, loyal readers of various publications were led to believe the Dutchman was a shoo-in to become a United player in whichever transfer window was approaching – with the Daily Mail even going as far to say a deal had been agreed back in 2011 when Sneijder was at Inter.

Alas, it was a move that never actually came to fruition, and now legendary former Red Devils boss Sir Alex has revealed the reason why: Man Utd were never interested in him in the first place.

„Well, you mention the boy Sneijder,“ he said on the UTD Podcast. “That’s come up a lot of times but we were never interested in Sneijder.

„I don’t know where that came from but you get a lot of them. Every Sunday, in The People, when I first came, they were throwing names in all the time, you know.“

So, shockingly, you shouldn’t necessarily believe everything you read in the press – although the former Netherlands international’s own version of events contradicts the former United boss, so we may never know the whole truth.

Speaking back in September 2011 (as quoted by The Telegraph), Sneijder said a move had been ‚close‘ that summer.

“I just felt that it was close, yes [I thought I was going],“ he said. “We had several talks, the situation was such that Inter had to sell a player, Eto’o or me, and indeed there was interest.

„They [Manchester United] are one of the biggest clubs in the world, so it did not seem a bad thing – but at the same time I do not want to leave Inter.

„Italy is great for me, and I cannot exclude that they [United] got that feeling, for me a move was not an absolute must and there were a few things which meant it did not happen.“