Ex-Man United ace on failed Barcelona move; he was Cruyff’s first choice

Originally posted on Caught Offside | By Jason Pettigrove | Last updated 3/1/24

Both Barcelona and Man United have seen better days, but there’s no doubting their status as European heavyweights.

It’s been nine long years since the Catalans held aloft the Champions League trophy, and we need to go back another seven for the last time the Red Devils did so.

The finals of 2009 and 2011 were contested by both teams, with the Spanish giants coming out on top on both occasions.

They also met back in the European Cup Winners’ Cup final of 1991, and on this occasion it was United who triumphed thanks to two Mark Hughes goals.

Lee Sharpe played for the then English First Division side in that match, and has shared an anecdote regarding how he could’ve swapped Old Trafford for Camp Nou.

“I was once chatting to Jordi Cruyff in a jacuzzi and he asked why I never moved from United to Barca… I didn’t know what he meant, I’d never thought about it as an option,” he said to Instant Casino, via Marca (h/t Football Espana).

“He told me I’d been at the top of his father, Johan Cruyff’s, shopping list for Barca for a couple of years.

“According to Jordi, Barcelona made a call to United, but they never told me.”

As Sharpe was an integral part of the United side at that time, any more abroad would’ve surely created headlines.

By 1996 his star had waned to the point where he was no longer of use to the club or Sir Alex Ferguson, who sold him to Leeds in what was a joint record deal at the time.

Injuries meant he was never quite the same player as in his United pomp, so Barcelona may have dodged a bullet.

This article first appeared on Caught Offside and was syndicated with permission.

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