Olympique Marseille hero Jean-Philippe Durand has revealed how close they came to signing Manchester United hero Nemanja Vidic.

Durand admits they had a deal agreed with Red Star Belgrade for the Serbian great.

He recalled in Le Phoceen: "The craziest story is about Nemanja Vidic. It was at the time of Alain Perrin, and it was Pixie Stojkovic who had advised me to go see him.

"He was 20 years old and we had agreed with Red Star Belgrade for a transfer of €5m. But, on the day of the signing, the leaders asked for a little more, then a little more.

"After a while, it went into a spin and we said stop. I still remember him at that time, we were on the terrace of a cafe and he was crying. It was very moving."