Ex Man Utd scout admits regret over not signing Liverpool star on free

Oli Fisher

Former scouting manager Javier Ribalta has admitted that he wished he had signed two midfielders while at Manchester United.

Ribalta only worked at United for 12 months before becoming Zenit St Petersburg’s sporting director, after years of working at Juventus, where he signed Dani Alves, Paulo Dybala, Paul Pogba, Alvaro Morata and Alex Sandro.

He has been asked which players he regrets failing to sign at his two previous clubs.

“From my Juventus years, I’d say [Jose] Gimenez from Atletico Madrid,” he told Tuttosport. “Let’s say that when he was still at Danubio, I came in too late.

“As for my time in Manchester, I was only there for a year but I’d have liked to sign Emre Can and [Leon] Goretzka on free transfers.”

Can left Liverpool for Juventus while Goretzka opted to remain in Germany with Bayern Munich.

 

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