When you’re big a club like Manchester United, you have to stay ahead of the competition in any way you can.
Signing young players falls into that and United have tried to be two steps ahead for as long as possible.
That was the case while they were at their peak, although it seems they didn’t always get their way.
Like all the big clubs there’s a long list of youngsters they failed to sign, and Jeremy Menez can be added to Manchester United’s.
The 32-year-old recently joined Paris FC and Le Parisien have a feature on his career, including an interview with Jean-Luc Ruty, a man Menez has plenty of history with.
He’s the current director of Paris’ training centre but played a crucial role in convincing the midfielder to sign his first contract with Sochaux, when he was their Youth Coordinator.
That’s something he managed to achieve despite interest from Manchester United, who were pushing hard for his signature.
“Alex Ferguson had come to meet his family 
in Paris. Jeremy’s parents were separated, and I negotiated with them separately. I went to Paris with all the documents.
“Financially, we could not compete with Manchester, but we made efforts at our level. The battle was tough, but we won.
“Jeremy’s family had made the choice of wisdom, and he burned the steps by shining quickly in Ligue 1.”
