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‘Straight away’… Former England international now admits he turned down Manchester United, he wanted to join Leeds
Jermaine Jenas has admitted that he turned down a move to Manchester United before joining Newcastle United.
The former England international was wanted by legendary boss Sir Alex Ferguson, as well as Leeds United.
Jenas, who spent three years at St James’ Park before spending the majority of his career at Tottenham, claims he was really keen on a move to Elland Road at the time.
This was down to his close friendship with Rio Ferdinand, who was still at Leeds before making the switch to Old Trafford just months later.
But in January 2002, Jenas claims he opted for a move to Newcastle due to being warned about Leeds and concerns over a lack of playing time at Old Trafford.
Jenas admits he turned down Manchester United
Speaking on , Jenas discussed United’s interest in signing him and admitted his preference was to join Leeds.
“He [Paul Hart] went we have had three offers on the table,” Jenas said. “Sir Alex Ferguson has rang and he’s basically said we’ve bid £3 million and not a penny more because it’s an honour to play for the football club.
“David O’Leary has rang from Leeds, they have bid £5 million and Newcastle have bid £5 million and the car is going to be here in an hour.
“So I’m in the car from Nottingham to Newcastle and I’m saying to my agent that I want to go to Leeds and I knew Rio [Ferdinand] as I’d bump into him a couple of times out, as you could imagine!
“Rio was there, Fowler was there, the Champions League stuff was just kicking off at the time. And Paul Hart’s son was my agent, and Paul was at Leeds previously and said you are not going to Leeds. He said it’s going to fall apart, you’re not going.
“United was the only one I said no to straight away because I wanted to play. I looked at their midfield and they had Veron, Scholes, Giggs, Roy Keane and Becks.”
During Sir Alex Ferguson’s time as United boss, you don’t often hear about players turning down the Red Devils.
But in fairness to Jenas, he probably chose the right path at that point in his career.
With the array of talent United had in midfield, it would have been a tough ask for him to nail down a place in their side.
As for the Leeds interest, his agent’s warning turned out to be correct as the Whites were relegated from the Premier League just 18 months after his move to Newcastle.