Giggs reveals how Elliot Anderson shut down his Manchester United pitch on the golf course

Ryan Giggs tried and failed to convince Elliot Anderson to join Manchester United over Manchester City, revealing on Rio Ferdinand’s podcast that his persistent golf-course pitch earned him a blunt rebuke from the midfielder.

Giggs said he encountered Anderson just days before the England international departed for the World Cup in North America — a period when Anderson was, in his words, “probably the most-talked about Premier League player.” Playing in separate groups on the same course, Giggs seized the moment and spent the first four or five holes lobbying Anderson to choose Old Trafford.

“I peppered him. He didn’t know how to take it at first, and then he relaxed a little bit,” Giggs told Ferdinand. “For the first four or five holes, we were literally crossing. And at the end of it, he went, ‘Will you just leave me alone. Will you just let me play my golf, please?’ You’re in trouble.”

Anderson ultimately joined Manchester City in a deal reported at £116 million — a figure initially rumoured to have broken the British transfer record. Ferdinand, who admitted he also tries to “sell the club” whenever he meets desirable players, acknowledged United’s financial constraints were a decisive factor. “Manchester United haven’t got the budget to pay for that,” he said plainly.

Giggs, a 13-time Premier League winner with United, agreed that the fee was “astronomical” but stopped short of criticising Anderson’s decision, with both men conceding the former Nottingham Forest midfielder is a quality player regardless of where he ended up.

Ferdinand noted that at those financial heights, clubs have to “try all sorts” to get deals over the line — a sentiment that apparently extended to impromptu recruitment drives between holes.