Man United were not as good as they once were – so I joined Chelsea instead

Michael Ballack made the misguided decision of snubbing Manchester United for Chelsea because he believed Sir Alex Ferguson's side were on the decline.

Ballack, who celebrates his 48th birthday on September 26 was highly sought after heading into the 2006 summer transfer window following four years with Bayern Munich. He had the attention of Europe's elite, including the likes of Real Madrid and AC Milan.

But the German midfielder chose the Premier League as his next destination. United had been interested in securing his services - but Ballack felt they were below Chelsea in the pecking order, which made his mind up.

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Speaking to Sky Sports in 2020, he recalled: "One of the first to show interest were Man United. They had not had the best year. Winning the league was one thing but for me it was always a dream to win the Champions League."

United hadn't seized the Premier League crown for three successive seasons at that time following Arsenal's Invincibles triumph and Chelsea taking back-to-back titles under a young Jose Mourinho. For Ballack, this indicated a worrying trend for United.

Expanding on his decision, he continued: "It was not easy to decide with which team I could really attack this trophy, because there are so many good clubs. Man United in these days were not as good as before.

"Chelsea had won the league twice with Jose Mourinho. They had invested in a lot of players, had an amazing squad. Man United are an amazing club with a huge history but having huge ambitions also myself, I chose Chelsea."