'Leave me alone!' - Ryan Giggs reveals how £116m Man City star Elliot Anderson snubbed his desperate Man Utd transfer plea on the golf course

The pursuit of top-tier talent often happens behind closed doors, but Giggs has revealed that he took a more personal approach when trying to land Anderson for Manchester United. Speaking on Rio Ferdinand Presents: The Debrief, the iconic winger detailed how he tried to exploit a chance meeting with the England midfielder while on holiday just before the World Cup.

Giggs admitted that he did not hold back when he realised he was sharing the course with the then United target. "It was literally a few days before he went to the World Cup. I peppered him," Giggs told Ferdinand.

"He didn’t know how to take it at first, and then he relaxed a little bit. But for the first four or five holes, we were literally crossing. And at the end of it, he went, 'will you just let me, leave me alone. Will you just let me play my golf, please? You’re in trouble'."

Despite the charm offensive from one of United's greatest-ever players, the Red Devils were eventually priced out of a move. Manchester City secured Anderson for a fee of £116 million, a figure that changed the landscape of the summer market.

Reflecting on the sheer scale of the transfer, Ferdinand supported Giggs' aggressive recruitment style but acknowledged the fiscal constraints at United. "That’s what I do when I see some players. I don’t care. You’ve got to try all sorts to get these deals over. It’s mad, though. Obviously, the price tag was crazy. And it’s just like astronomical money. Man United ain’t got the budget to pay for that."

During the interview, Giggs pivoted to another intriguing anecdote involving former Man City manager Pep Guardiola. He recalled a dinner attended by several footballing heavyweights, including Sir Alex Ferguson, where the topic of United's squad came up. Giggs was curious to know which player the serial-winning coach admired most within the ranks of their cross-town rivals.

Giggs recounted the conversation from several years ago, noting that the Catalan coach was incredibly decisive about who he would want in his own team.

"There’s about eight of us, so he [Ferguson] sat me next to Pep, this was about, I’m going to say about eight or nine years ago," Giggs recalled. "I’ve gone to Pep and says, 'you know, who do you like at United?', he went, 'Well, who do you think?'

"So I went, De Gea? He went, no. Luke Shaw? I was just like, no. He said 'the best player at Man United, Marcus Rashford. I would take him tomorrow'. And that just made me [think], what’s he seeing Pep? And that was obviously as a centre forward."

The revelation about Guardiola's early interest in Rashford provides a fascinating context to the forward's career at Old Trafford. While Rashford has had to rebuild his career out on loan in recent seasons, the fact that he was singled out by the City boss as United's "best player" speaks volumes about his ceiling as a professional.

As United prepare to host City this Sunday, the stories shared by Giggs serve as a reminder of the narrow margins in elite recruitment and the mutual respect that exists between rivals. United fans will be left wondering what might have been had Giggs' golf course pitch succeeded, or if Rashford had ever made the unthinkable switch to the blue side of the city.