How Jose Mourinho's daily calls and a barbecue saw Sir Alex Ferguson miss out on Man United's Roy Keane 'replacement'

Sir Alex Ferguson didn't often get things wrong in the transfer market during his time at Manchester United, but his few failures are notable.

The legendary United boss openly admits his inability to sign Paul Gascoigne is one of his biggest regrets, while the likes of Alan Shearer, Ronaldinho and Manuel Neuer slipped through his fingertips as well. Another player Sir Alex perhaps regrets not working with is former Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien, with the Scot taking the Ghanaian on trial twice before moving to Stamford Bridge later in his career.

The decision would come back to haunt United, with Essien enjoying a highly successful spell in London as United failed to adequately replace midfield general Roy Keane. It was the need to replace Keane that made United's decision not to sign Essien all the more perplexing - especially considering Keane was a player he admired so much.

Essien says he visited United twice as a youngster after being offered trials at the club, during which he failed to do enough to convince the club to sign him up. Essien told The Sun in 2008: "I grew up in Accra in the city and I was the only boy in a family of four girls. That was difficult enough but my dad used to be a footballer and always encouraged me to just concentrate on that.

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"All I wanted to do was play and, although we were poor, I used to kick an old ball around in the street with my friends. I started taking it seriously at about nine years old but my career really took off when I came home from the Under-17 World Cup.

"Suddenly lots of clubs were interested in me. I had always dreamed of playing in Europe and, as a boy, my team were Manchester United. When they offered me a