Ryan Giggs recalls Manchester United’s golf-course bid for Elliot Anderson

Ryan Giggs has recalled an unusual Manchester United recruitment attempt involving a chance meeting on a golf course, while also revealing Pep Guardiola’s past admiration for Marcus Rashford ahead of Sunday’s derby against Manchester City.

A golf-course approach to Anderson

Giggs said United were interested in signing Anderson when the England midfielder was preparing to leave for a World Cup. The former United winger encountered the player while on holiday and decided to make the club’s interest clear during a round of golf.

Speaking to Rio Ferdinand, Giggs said the meeting came only days before Anderson’s World Cup departure. He pursued the subject persistently, with the two repeatedly coming together during the opening stages of the course.

Anderson was initially unsure how to respond before becoming more comfortable with the attention, Giggs said. By the end of the round, however, the midfielder had asked him to stop the recruitment pitch and allow him to concentrate on his golf.

• United explored a move for Anderson before his World Cup involvement.
• Giggs used a holiday golf round to press the case personally.
• Manchester City ultimately completed the transfer for £116 million.
• The size of the fee left United unable to compete for the deal.

Ferdinand backed the principle of players and former players using personal connections to help progress transfers, but said the financial reality was decisive. He described the eventual price as extraordinary and said United did not possess the budget required to match it.

Guardiola’s Rashford verdict

Giggs also revisited a dinner from around eight or nine years ago attended by Sir Alex Ferguson, Guardiola and several other leading figures from football. Ferguson had seated Giggs beside the Manchester City manager, giving the former United player an opportunity to ask which member of the Old Trafford squad Guardiola most admired.

Giggs first suggested David de Gea and then Luke Shaw, but Guardiola rejected both names. The City manager instead identified Rashford as the United player he would take immediately, describing the forward as the strongest player in the squad at that time.

The remark came when Guardiola viewed Rashford principally as a centre-forward option. It underlined the regard in which the England international was held by United’s cross-city rival during an earlier stage of his career.

Rashford’s changing position

Rashford has spent recent seasons attempting to revive his career away from Old Trafford on loan, making Guardiola’s earlier assessment a notable part of the forward’s wider United story. The City manager’s view suggested he saw significant potential in Rashford despite the player’s later difficulties.

For United, the two recollections highlight the fine margins involved in elite-level recruitment: one target moved across Manchester after a £116 million agreement, while another was singled out by City’s manager as a player he would have wanted in his own side.

Derby next on the schedule

United will host Manchester City on Sunday, with the latest meeting between the rivals arriving against the backdrop of Giggs’ stories about transfer pursuits and Guardiola’s respect for Rashford. The derby will bring renewed focus to two clubs whose competition has extended well beyond the pitch.