Sir Alex Ferguson missed a Manchester United first-team match to scout David de Gea, who was playing for Atletico Madrid, in Spain before signing the goalkeeper, whilst he also invited him to his home to have lunch after he signed for the club.
Ferguson signed De Gea for a fee of £18.9million from Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2011 and he's won the Premier League, Europa League, FA Cup and League Cup during an over 11-year successful stay in Manchester.
Erik ten Hag has stuck with De Gea as first-choice goalkeeper this season and the Spaniard is one of two players who have won a Premier League title with United to still play for the club (the other player is Phil Jones).
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De Gea reflected on his time at United this week and he discussed the gestures that Ferguson made to sign him in 2011.
The legendary manager missed a League Cup match against Scunthorpe to watch De Gea play against Valencia, which was the only time he missed a fixture to scout a player, and he also invited the goalkeeper to his home to have lunch.
“They told me there was someone from Manchester watching the games, but I didn’t know it was Sir Alex,” De Gea told United's in-house media. "That’s unbelievable. Some months and someone told me Sir Alex watched the game and I was a bit in shock.
"I used to watch the Premier League, it's always been one of the best in the world. I never realised that I wanted to play in England. I could only understand 10 per cent of what he [Ferguson] said! Even now it's not easy for me to understand.
"His accent is quite difficult to understand, for me. To speak with him, to spend some together was amazing, I went to his house as well with his wife and that was very, very nice. We had some lunch and he talked with me, my family was there as well.
"They [his family] didn't understand anything! I can't remember what we had for lunch, but it was a privilege."
De Gea's contract expires at the end of the season but the club have the option to extend the deal.
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