EXCLUSIVE: I turned down a move to Manchester United - England international

JERMAINE JENAS has revealed he snubbed Manchester United – and he reckons more young stars should do the same.

By Alex Wood                                 

SNUBBED: Jenas opted for a move to St James' Park over Old Trafford

Jenas was snapped up by Newcastle for £5m from Nottingham Forest in 2002 when he was just 18.

The former England international - capped 21 times by his country - says the Red Devils and Leeds were also desperate to secure his signature.

But the lure of first-team football and Bobby Robson’s persistence helped coax him to Tyneside.

“I sat down with my manager, he called me in on my day off, and he basically just went: ‘Look, we’ve had three offers in for you. Leeds have offered £5m, Newcastle £5m and Man United £3m,” said Jenas who was speaking behind the scenes at BT Sport Score.

“I thought that was weird, but basically he said: ‘Ferguson thinks it’s an honour to play for the club, therefore he’s only offering £3m.’

“I think they were kind of only doing the deal because I was hot property at the time – not because he genuinely wanted me.

“At United they were saying: ‘We’ll develop you and you’ve got all these star players to train with.’

“But I didn’t want that. I wanted to be playing.

“Bobby didn’t stop ringing my phone - and David O’Leary was ringing me.

“So it was kind of like, which way do I go?

“Leeds were Champions League at the time, they had [Rio] Ferdinand, [Robbie] Keane, [Robbie] Fowler and so on - and it was closer to home.

“But my agent said: ‘You can’t go to Leeds. It’s going to fall apart. I promise you it’s not good there.’

“Once I’d got to St James’ Park, the minute I pulled up to the stadium, I’d decided I wasn’t going anywhere else.

“It felt like the right place to be – and Bobby just sold it to me by making sure I knew I was going to be playing.
“I could have said no, gone to United and you might never have seen me.

“I might have gone into the reserves, got paid loads of good money and just been comfortable.

“I might not have been able to break through into that unbelievable United team of [Roy] Keane, [Nicky] Butt and [Paul] Scholes. I could have just gone missing.”

Jenas, who also had permanent stints at Tottenham and QPR before retiring through injury, has urged up and coming stars to follow his lead and pick clubs that’ll offer them game time.

He added: “I say to youngsters: ‘Go out and play football.’

“What are you doing playing for the under 21s?

“Tell your agent you want to go and play for Leyton Orient.

“Go and play for anybody. Don’t sit playing in this under 21 league because you’ll just rot away.

“At the moment there’s too many players that are looked at as a promise or a talent.”

Courtesy of dailystar.uk