Alex Ferguson Wanted Pep Guardiola, Who Wanted Juventus - Agent

Manchester United were the first club to try and sign Pep Guardiola in his last season at Barcelona, but it was the breakdown of a move to Juventus that upset the player most, according to his agent.

The Catalan playmaker was due to meet Sir Alex Ferguson for talks about a move in 2000, but the Premier League outfit did not want to wait and pulled out of the deal leaving it clear for other clubs.

A number of English clubs moved as well as Inter and AC Milan, but it was Juve whom Guardiola wanted to join, and when that chance went he was unhappy, Josep Maria Orobitg has revealed.

"Pep liked United because he saw a huge club that was the model for how to run an organisation, but he insisted that I only listened and said nothing until Joan Gaspart was approached first," Sport quote the agent as saying.

"Pep did not see things clearly. United became annoyed that everything was taking so long."

Towards the end of the 2000-01 season, Guardiola decided that he would leave Barcelona and after a press conference announcing his choice, Orobitg began to receive calls.

"The first call came from Inter, then Milan called followed by Tottenham, Liverpool and Arsenal," he continued.

"I met Inter in Milan and went to a sports complex where I spoke to their directors and they basically offered me a blank cheque.

"[President Massimo] Moratti did not want me to leave Milan without have signed a commitment for Pep to join Inter."

Juve then called and made it clear that they wanted to sign Guardiola. That was the move that the midfielder wanted most, and so he instructed Orobitg to push it through.

"Josep Maria, I would sign for Juve for less money and anything else. It is one of the dreams of my life," the agent recalled Pep telling him.

"Moggi then slapped his hand against the table and everyone else had to leave the room meaning that just Moggi, his son Delane and I remained."

Juve delayed the decision to sign Guardiola as they wanted to sell Zinedine Zidane to Real Madrid first and by the time that deal had gone through the Turin-based outfit had changed their minds.

In the event, Guardiola moved to Brescia Calcio in 2001, but his stay in Italy proved to be an unhappy one.

Lucas Brown, Goal.com