Alex Ferguson tried to persuade Michael Owen to sign for Manchester United as a teenager before finally getting his man 16 years later with horse racing chat.
The former striker reveals in his new autobiography that United along with Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City attempted to convince the talented youngster before he signed schoolboy terms with Liverpool.
And part of United's pitch involved a face-to-face meeting with the legendary manager at Old Trafford that sounded slightly surreal.
Owen writes in Reboot - My Life, My Time: 'Then it was Manchester United - who had sent [assistant manager] Brian Kidd several times over the preceding years to watch me.
'We went to Old Trafford and Alex Ferguson took me into his office, stared into my face from a distance of about one inch and said: "Do you want to be a Manchester United player?"
'It was all so intense - and I didn't know what to say. All I know is that this kind of attention just didn't happen to every young player.
'Without meaning to sound arrogant, I doubt there was a young footballer in the world in such high demand at the time.'
Owen was already playing for Liverpool at the time but his family were almost tempted by City when they offered £50,000 in cash if he signed a schoolboy contract at Maine Road.
In the end, Owen's father called Steve Heighway, then academy boss at Liverpool, and persuaded them to match City's offer.
Owen's talent as a teenager proved quite lucrative while he was at the Football Association's academy at Lilleshall.
He had a sponsorship deal with Umbro worth £5,000 and was supplied with branded boots, tracksuits, and jumpers.
He writes: 'I'd sell it [the kit] to the other lads for cash and I even traded it to one of the lads in the group in exchange for some homework - specifically, as I recall, an English essay for which one lad in the group got a B grade for me. It was a good investment!'
In 2009, Owen was a free agent after the expiry of his Newcastle United contract and was considering his options. It was at this point, 16 years after his first attempt, Fergie got his man.
The striker, who'd suffered from a series of injuries, was stunned to be the subject of interest from the reigning Premier League champions.
Owen did everything to try to impress Ferguson when they met at his house, from wearing his smartest clothes to arriving 10 minutes early.
'Obviously I knew him given our shared interest and connections in horse racing, so we probably spent more time talking about racing than football in that first meeting,' Owen recalls.
'Strangely, I don't think he ever directly said that he wanted to sign me. It was just assumed on both sides. I left knowing that I was probably about to become a Manchester United player.'
United was only willing to pay Owen, a free signing, £20,000 a week but the striker admits: 'I'd probably have signed for five grand a week!'
He played 52 times for the Old Trafford club, scoring 17 goals and won the Premier League and the League Cup.