When Diego Forlan signed for Manchester United in January 2002, he joined one of football’s most demanding dressing rooms.
The Red Devils squad was packed with experienced pros, serial winners and above all, a manager that no one in the game would ever dare cross.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s reputation preceded him in the 2000s, but for Forlan, his earliest encounters with the Scot revealed a different side to the Manchester United legend.
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Diego Forlan on his first conversation with Sir Alex Ferguson
Sir Alex Ferguson had a fearsome reputation when Forlan signed for the club (Image credit: Getty Images)
“The first time we spoke was on the phone,” Forlan tells FourFourTwo as he recalls his introduction to Ferguson before he made the move to England.
“I’d studied at a bilingual school, so despite Sir Alex’s strong accent and my nerves, we managed to understand each other,” he adds, highlighting a somewhat unusual first exchange.
Forlan famously looked to be joining Middlesbrough when he travelled to England to seek out a move away from Independiente, only for Manchester United to gazump the Teesside club and greet him off the plane.
“When I landed in England, he was waiting for me at Old Trafford and showed me around every corner of the stadium,” Forlan continues.
Ferguson quickly made an impression on the Uruguayan, who was clearly impressed with the Scot’s man management.
“From that first meeting, I saw how approachable he was,” he says, before detailing another story which showed just how much homework Ferguson had done on his new signing.
Forland alongside his strike partner Ruud van Nistelrooy (Image credit: Getty Images)
“I can remember during a pre-season in the US, I was playing a tennis tie-break against Ruud van Nistelrooy at the hotel.
“Sir Alex knew I’d played tennis since I was a kid, so he backed me and started joking to distract Ruud.
“I ended up winning.”