Germany legend and former Bayern Munich goalkeeper Oliver Kahn has revealed that he regrets not moving to Manchester United in 2003 after being pursued by Sir Alex Ferguson. The German had an amazing chance to forge a career at Old Trafford when the legendary Ferguson was still in charge but he backed off to develop himself further at Bayern.

Despite his perceived disappointment, it has been a career to cherish for Kahn, winning the Champions League title with Bayern in 2000-01 in addition to eight Bundesliga titles during his time at the club. With Germany, he won the European Cup in 1996 and was also incredibly close to winning the World Cup, finishing runners-up to Brazil in 2002 following a forgettable final.

He is still the most capped goalkeeper in Bundesliga history with 557, but he feels that he should have explored more opportunities across Europe as they came along. Kahn played for Bayern from 1994 until 2008 after joining the Bavarian club from Karlsruhe.

"Sir Alex Ferguson is still mad at me today. He thought that I would move to Man Utd in 2003 or 2004, but I was more interested in trying to define an era at Bayern," Kahn told Bild, as quoted by Goal. "Looking back, I should have done it then. It would have been a nice challenge for me."

Kahn was between the posts for Bayern in United's historic Champions League win over the Bavarians in 1999 where they made an incredible comeback in the final minutes to complete what is regarded as one of the greatest chapters in the club's illustrious history. United went on to win the treble that year but Kahn has no sad memories related to the game and passed off a joke in context to lighten the moment.

"I remember the Champions League final against Manchester United as a win – I just forgot the last two minutes," he joked.

Oliver Kahn
Kahn was wanted by Manchester United. Getty
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