Argentine legend Roa says rejecting Utd because he thought world going to end

Carlos Roa has claimed that he was in line to join Manchester United in the summer of 1999 only for the move to collapse following his sudden retirement.

The Argentine was widely regarded as one of the world's finest keepers at the end of the century and was a priority for Sir Alex Ferguson.

United were looking for a long term successor to replace Peter Schmeichel who departed the club following their treble success in 1999.

Roa's stock was high having been part of the Argentina side that dumped England out on penalties in the previous year's World Cup at the last-16 stage, famously saving David Batty's spot-kick.

But Roa's personal beliefs as a devout Seventh-day Adventist stopped him from ever moving to Old Trafford from Real Mallorca.

He informed the club he was retiring at just 30-year-old to follow his beliefs, which included a prediction the world would end in the year 2000.

'At that time I was very attached to religion and bible study. It was a difficult decision to make but at the same time thoughtful – and my family agreed with me,' he told the Mirror.

'The people of the club thought that I was going to go back and that they would recover a lot of money with that transfer that was about to happen.

'Today, I still think that on a ­spiritual level it was a very good decision. But in sporting terms it wasn't – because I left football at the best moment of my career.

'I could have progressed a lot, with great contracts and the ­possibility of playing in England.'

Both parties lost out in the long term with Roa never quite recovering his form after returning to Mallorca less than a year after his retirement, as he soon dropped through the Spanish leagues.

Ferguson meanwhile endured a nightmare period trying to replace Schmeichel, as first-choice pics including Mark Bosnich, Fabien Barthez, Roy Carroll and Tim Howard failed to impress before he finally settled on Edwin van der Sar in 2005.