The transfer in January 2009 of Zoran Tosic and his team mate, Adem Ljajic, was a strange one. United agreed a deal that could be worth up to £17m for the pair, with Llajic due to stay with Partizan Belgrade for the rest of the season.

However, United later pulled of out the deal to sign Ljajic, only for him to go on to sign for Fiorentina the following year. Tosic made a total of five appearances for United and enjoyed a successful loan period with Cologne, scoring 5 goals in 13 games.

Tosic wasn’t prepared to wait for United to play him regularly so five days after returning from his loan he signed for CSKA Moscow. Now, the Serbian has a few regrets over his decision.

“It all happened really quickly as I played for just 18 months with Partizan Belgrade,” he said. “We won the league and the cup and there was a period when it seemed like I was scoring in every match. It was at that point I signed for Manchester United. It was such an exciting moment to go there and to meet Sir Alex. I had grown up as a United fan so to be working for the man who had brought so much success to the club was just unbelievable. However, there is a big difference between the Serbian and English league and when I arrived in Manchester I discovered I was not yet ready for that level. I spoke with Sir Alex many times and he kept telling me I had quality and just had to keep working hard. But I wanted to play more games so went to Cologne in Germany on loan and had a great six months there. When I came back to Manchester I was expecting to play more games for United but it didn’t happen. In the end I wasn’t sure I was going to get the chance I felt I deserved so decided to change club. Even now I am always thinking about that moment. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so quick and should have worked longer to show Sir Alex. Maybe I should have stayed and fought for my place. This was Man United after all.”