The father of Ajax star Dusan Tadic has recalled the time his son rejected Manchester United.
After four years with Southampton, Tadic left St Mary's 18 months ago to sign for Ajax - where he played an outstanding role in helping the Dutch giants to reach the final four of the Champions League.
However, as his father recalls, it could've been so different for the Serbia international if he'd followed Dad's advice.
Petar Tadic admits he's a huge United supporter and says Dusan's decision, which was made in 2014 while leaving FC Twente, left him heartbroken.
He recalled to Voetbal International via Voetbalzone: “I wanted him to go to Manchester, to Louis van Gaal. But Dusan wanted to go to Ronald Koeman. We couldn't work it out together.
"Manchester has always been a top club, I was a fan of that. Bobby Charlton, George Best, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes ... They have always had top players.
“That's why I was really mad at Dusan. We talked about it all evening, but in the end Dusan said he would choose Southampton anyway."
At Southampton, Tadic played over 130 games and was crowned Serbia's Player of the Year in 2016.
Milko Novakovic, who plays for CSK Celarevo, was one of Tadic's best friends when they played together as young players with Vojvodina. He admits he was kept up to date on all developments at the time.
Novakovic revealed: "Dusan and Petar cried together all night. But a day later it was also over and the discussion finished. Then Petar had respected the choice of Dusan."
Six months after his arrival, Tadic played for Saints at Old Trafford and scored the only goal of the game.
“What did Petar think? He thought it was nice for Dusan, but very unfortunate for Manchester, hahaha...," added Novakovic.
- updated December 23
