Alessandro Del Piero may have enjoyed a career few players could have dreamed of – but he failed to fulfil his dream of playing in the Premier League.
The Italian football legend, who dazzled fans throughout the 1990s and 2000s, has revealed he came close to joining Manchester United and Newcastle.
Joining Juventus in 1993, the forward made 705 appearances for the club, scoring 290 times in a glittering era for the club.
During that time, Del Piero helped the club to six Serie A titles, a Coppa Italia and a Champions League in 1996 where they defeated Ajax on penalties.
He even helped the club to the Serie B title in 2007 after the club were demoted after being embroiled in a high-profile match-fixing scandal.
With a World Cup with Italy to his name as well, Del Piero won just about everything that was available to him, leading many to suggest that a move to the Premier League would have been a logical next step for him.
And during his appearance on talkSPORT Drive on Friday live from Soccer Aid training, the 49-year-old was asked whether he has any regrets about not playing in England.
To which he said: “No regrets because everything that I chose in my career, I don’t regret – including relegation with Juventus.
“That was a hard choice, but I’m still happy that I made it because I truly believe in one way and that is still my way.
“Every time that I came to play in England it was a great atmosphere.”
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Asked if a move to England ever came close, Del Piero remarked: “Yeah, it happened with Newcastle and Man United.
“It didn’t happen in the end because I was captain of Juve and happy at Juve and for me it was everything. I was a Juventus fan from the beginning when I was a young kid.
“I wasn’t looking for more money or more things – they gave me good money in Turin and I became captain and stayed 19 years going through everything from paradise to hell and I’m happy about that.
“It’s a unique story and a unique journey.
“Of course I would have loved to have had the chance to play here because I always enjoyed playing here, but it didn’t happen.”
Man United’s pursuit of Del Piero came in 2006 following the Juventus’ demotion to Serie B for match-fixing.
Despite interest from the Red Devils, Del Piero chose to stay in Turin to help the club to retain their Serie A status.
Years later, Sir Alex Ferguson told Inside Sport that the Italian superstar was the one who got away.
Speaking in 2021, Ferguson said: “Del Piero is the only one who I would’ve gone mad for.
“After a Champion’s League match between United and Juventus, in which he destroyed half of our defence, Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville came to me and asked me to buy him at all costs, because someone like him would’ve made us win everything for decades.
“And so I contact the Juve representatives, and the lad’s agent.
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“He refused even before listening to my proposal, telling me that Juve was the best place for him and, that while he respected Manchester United, he would never have been able to betray the black and white colours.
“A pity, because I never again saw someone like him.”
Ferguson added: “A champion on and off the field, I courted him even just after Italy’s World Cup win.
“In that time, Real Madrid were also after him and, given the issues around Juventus at the time, I imagined that between us at United and the Galacticos, there would be a fair auction to get him.”