'I was shocked' - how Manchester United Class of ‘92 star almost joined Real Madrid in secret transfer
manchestereveningnews.co.ukPaul Scholes and Nicky Butt grew up together and became best friends. They came through Manchester United's academy in tandem and know each other inside out.
However, despite 37 years of friendship, there was something that Scholes only learned about Butt recently, something he'd never spoken about before. "Nicky almost signed for Real Madrid.
I knew nothing about that and got a bit of a shock when he told me," said Scholes. "It was when I went to Newcastle," Butt said. "It was in January 2004.
I got the point of nearly signing it after having a discussion with Carlos Queiroz. He rang me up and asked me if I would go and I said yeah, but I don't think the manager was keen on me joining and it was squashed." Scholes smirked as he said "they signed Thomas Gravesen instead," and Butt explained that Sir Alex Ferguson wasn't prepared to let him sign for a rival, which included a rival in Europe. ALSO READ: I joined United training and saw what the players are really like ALSO READ: How United beat City and Chelsea to sign Casemiro replacement The Manchester Evening News spoke with Scholes and Butt ahead of their new podcast and they were in excellent form during an interview in which nothing was off the table.
Read more on manchestereveningnews.co.uk
