Daniele De Rossi dreamt of playing for Manchester United

According to Sky Sports (h/t Mirror), Roma legend Daniele De Rossi has opened up on his failed dream of playing for Manchester United.

The powerhouse Italian played all but seven games of his club career for Roma after coming through the ranks at the Italian capital.

In close to two decades at the club, he made an impressive 616 appearances while scoring 63 goals and 55 assists.

His impressive performances caught the eye of Manchester United, the top dogs in English football at the time. Rossi has revealed that he turned down the chance due to the presence of Roy Keane and Paul Scholes in the Red Devils setup.

“I didn’t go to Manchester because there was Keane and Scholes, incredible players”

The duo was undoubtedly among the best midfielders in the game at the time. Adding Rossi to the mix would have elevated our level as the Italian was an accomplished player.

It is very much likely that Rossi would have had opportunities to make it at United. Keane left the club in 2005 while Scholes hit his 30s in 2004. Still in his early 20s at the time, the Italian had both time and talent to make it at Old Trafford.

A member of the 2006 Italian World Cup-winning side, Rossi was amongst the finest midfielders of his generation. He would go on to win just three honours at Roma. It is debatable that he could have done much more had he chosen to join us instead.

Rossi won the Serie-A Italian footballer of the year award in 2009 and the Italian sportsman of the year award a year later.

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Rossi faced off against United six times in his career, winning just once. He scored for Roma in the 7-1 victory for United at Old Trafford in 2007. (h/t Transfermarkt)