Manchester United icon Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed he attempted to sign Francesco Totti from Roma.

The Italian is one of Roma's greatest ever players, having represented the club between 1992 and 2017 and playing 619 Serie A games.

The two clubs will face off in Manchester on Thursday for the first leg of the Europa League semi-finals.

Speaking before the game, Ferguson told Gazzetta dello Sport: "We liked the player and we would have liked to include him in our plans, but when we expressed our interest, it immediately became clear that Totti didn't want to leave Rome.

"He was deeply attached to his city. His CV is clear. Totti has, in his career, only worn the Roma shirt."