James Rodriguez has spoken of his admiration for Manchester United despite turning down the chance to join them.
The Real Madrid star had caught the eye of the Red Devils during his time at Porto where he helped them win eight trophies in just three years.
However, Rodriguez snubbed the move to Old Trafford to sign for Ligue 1 outfit Monaco for £38.5million.
The Colombian admits he was always a fan of watching the likes of Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, but believes it wasn't the right time in his career to make the jump to the Premier League.
"Yes I think there was some kind of talk there," he told Rio Ferdinand's 'The Locker Room'.
"My manager (agent) has a great relationship with the club, his name is Jorge Mendes.
"Well, we always dream of getting in a big club. Since I was a child I always admired Manchester, I always saw those teams with Rio together with Giggs and Scholes, there were a lot of prodigious players and I wanted to get there in that year. But it didn’t happen.
"I thought I had to play for a club that wasn’t so big. From there I went to France just before the World Cup and my plan was to go to the World Cup, have a great participation there, score goals, reach a good level and from there play for a big club and then the Real Madrid thing happened."
Rodriguez netted nine times in 30 starts for Monaco before Real Madrid splashed out £71m for his signature in 2014.