Pavel Nedved, who won the Ballon d’Or when he was at Juventus in 2003, has revealed that the one regret of his career is that Manchester United never tried to sign him.

A regret? That I never played for Manchester United. I’d have liked that. The transfer was never on the table though, there was only Chelsea [interested in me]. I liked the generation of Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs, whom I admired. I was a little bit jealous of Karel Poborsky, who played in Manchester and experienced great matches. I know he still feels that love.

In terms of team-mates, I’ve had a lot and I don’t want to offend anyone. If I had to pick one [as the best] though, I’d say Zlatan Ibrahimovic. He’s a striker who can cut through defences. He has scary power and height, as well as excellent technique. That said, when he came to Juventus, he couldn’t finish. What you see today is mainly down to the fact Fabio Capello took him for a half-an-hour of shooting practice after every training session.