Did he? His agents shopped him to Liverpool and Barcelona during the 2002-03 season, but they had no interest. He also met Wenger in Nov 2002, and nothing came of it. Then Man Utd played a friendly against Sporting in Aug 2003 just before the 2003-2004 season started, and Furguson immediately put in an offer to buy him after the game. It's almost as though you like to make things up as you go along