Arsenal legend Emmanuel Petit has said that “He should have joined Manchester United and not Chelsea”
Emmanuel Petit’s career was a mixture of highs and lows.
From scoring the third goal in a World Cup final to a regretful season at Barcelona, the impeccably-coiffed midfielder’s 16 seasons in football had it all.
Following his poor 2000-2001 season at Barcelona, Petit was keen to return to the Premier League and eventually moved to Chelsea, where he failed to impress during his first year.
However, prior to signing for the London club, the player was heavily linked with a move to Manchester United to play under Sir Alex Ferguson but ultimately decided on Stamford Bridge.
Ahead of the release of his second book, called “Franc-Tireur”, Yahoo! France interviewed the former Arsenal midfielder about some of the book’s content.
About United’s interest, Petit said: “Each time I took a personal decision instead of a professional one, it was an error. That had already happened when I moved from Arsenal to Barcelona.
“Manchester United had noticed the state I was in during my first few months at Barcelona. I’d really appreciated Sir Alex Ferguson’s approach. If I’d made a decision based on my career, I would have gone to Manchester United.”
He added: “But once again, I privileged a private choice over a sporting choice. I regret it.”
Despite a first poor season, Petit managed to regain some of his form for Chelsea later on but, unfortunately, had to retire in 2005 after failing to fully recover from knee surgery.