Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson still rues missing out on Tottenham star Gareth Bale.Southampton rejected United's attempt to sign him - and a few weeks later Tottenham hit the jackpot with an initial £5million payment back in 2007.

Ferguson said: "We tried to buy him at Southampton but they turned us down. It happens. You don't get them all.

"As I have said before, we would have loved to have got Paul Gascoigne but we didn't. We got Paul Ince and he was a great player.

"But these things happen. It wasn't the boy. It was the club that turned us down - a few weeks later he signed for Tottenham."