Pele has revealed that Sir Matt Busby tried to sign him for Manchester United in 1968. He turned us down, preferring to spend another six years playing for Santos.

Imagine United’s team in the 1968 though, including the likes of George Best, Sir Bobby Charlton and Denis Law, with Pele playing alongside them!

Yes I had an offer in, I think in ‘68. The late sixties. The team I used to play for Santos said “we have had a number of calls to play in Manchester for Manchester United”. They asked “Do you want to play there?” Back then Santos was one of the best teams – Santos and Real Madrid. So I said, no, I will stay. Everybody knows, I played 25 years with my team Santos, then I moved to New York Cosmos for 5-8 years. All my life I didn’t have a bad injury. I had a problem with my knee ligaments, but I never had a big problem. Now I have stopped playing I’m getting injured.

------------ Made in Manchester is available for just £5. It includes 30 articles from the country's best football writers about graduates from the Manchester United academy.. All profit goes to Trafford Macmillan so please support this fantastic cause.